Google Backs Creation of Cybersecurity Clinics

Good work, like the idea.

Google Backs Creation of Cybersecurity Clinics with $20-Million Donation

By Associated Press, June 23, 2023

Pichai said the new initiative addresses both the rising number of cyberattacks—up 38% globally in 2022—and the lack of candidates trained to stop them.

Credit: Jose Luis Magana/AP

Google CEO Sundar Pichai pledged $20 million to support and expand the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics, which introduces college students to cybersecurity careers while helping small government offices, rural hospitals, and nonprofits with cyber defenses and threat assessments.

This follows Google's May rollout of the Google Cybersecurity Certificate Program to prepare participants for entry-level cybersecurity jobs, and its partnership with universities in New York to develop cybersecurity learning and career opportunities.

Google.org's Justin Steele said of the cybersecurity clinics, "Those students get hands-on experience, and they get to increase their marketability for all of these open jobs in cybersecurity. We get to diversify the field of cybersecurity by training these students, and we get to protect critical U.S. infrastructure."

From Associated Press

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IOS Lockdown Mode for Security

Interesting approach by Apple to make IOS more secure, at a cost.  Useful for some users that are particularly susceptible to external threats.     Here an intro from Apple. 

An iPhone screen shows the new Lockdown Mode capability.

Lockdown Mode is the first major capability of its kind designed to offer an extreme, optional protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security.

Apple today detailed two initiatives to help protect users who may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware. Lockdown Mode — the first major capability of its kind, coming this fall with iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura — is an extreme, optional protection for the very small number of users who face grave, targeted threats to their digital security. Apple also shared details about the $10 million cybersecurity grant it announced last November to support civil society organizations that conduct mercenary spyware threat research and advocacy.

“Apple makes the most secure mobile devices on the market. Lockdown Mode is a groundbreaking capability that reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting users from even the rarest, most sophisticated attacks,” said Ivan Krstić, Apple’s head of Security Engineering and Architecture. “While the vast majority of users will never be the victims of highly targeted cyberattacks, we will work tirelessly to protect the small number of users who are. That includes continuing to design defenses specifically for these users, as well as supporting researchers and organizations around the world doing critically important work in exposing mercenary companies that create these digital attacks.”

Lockdown Mode offers an extreme, optional level of security for the very few users who, because of who they are or what they do, may be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats, such as those from NSO Group and other private companies developing state-sponsored mercenary spyware. Turning on Lockdown Mode in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura further hardens device defenses and strictly limits certain functionalities, sharply reducing the attack surface that potentially could be exploited by highly targeted mercenary spyware.  ... '