Financial Help for Aspiring Cybersecurity Pros

Four scholarship programs are now accepting applications from students who are interested in pursuing careers in cybersecurity.

The (ISC)2 Foundation on Wednesday announced 2012 scholarships in four categories aimed at inspiring the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

The awards available include undergraduate scholarships, which offer up to $5,000 per recipient, and grants of up to $3,000 for graduate students needing funding to conduct special research projects.

This year, the foundation announced the Harold F. Tipton Memorial Scholarship in honor of the (ISC)2 founder, who passed away on March 16. Many considered him to be the grandfather of cybersecurity. (ISC)2 will recognize the first Tipton Memorial Scholarship recipient at its second annual Security Congress event in September.

Scholarships also are available exclusively to women who are interested in cybersecurity careers. Each year, the foundation grants up to two scholarships to women totaling up to $40,000.

Academic faculty members also are eligible to apply for exam vouchers valid for one CISSP or CSSLP exam.

The (ISC)2 2011 Global Information Security Workforce study found that the demand for information security professionals is expected to increase to nearly 4.2 million by 2012, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.2 percent. The organization said the scholarships are aimed at encouraging young people to pursue cybersecurity careers to fill that need.

“As cybersecurity threats evolve and have broad implications worldwide, it is critical that we offer scholarship opportunities to students interested in this field,” said Julie Peeler, foundation director for (ISC)2. “It is our hope that our scholarship programs will help build a new workforce capable of preventing, detecting and responding to attacks on information systems.”

The application deadline for scholarships is June 29. Click here for more information.