ISC2 launches Foundation to improve security training, research and recruitment

Security certifications organisation ISC2 has launched a new charitable body tasked with spreading information security education and awareness across the globe, and nurture the next generation of security professionals.

The ISC2 Foundation will focus on end-user education, scholarships and industry research.

It will do this by supporting education programmes for parents, teachers and children, granting scholarships from high school to postgraduate level, and launching a research programme to analyse workforce trends and global cyber security threats.

W Hord Tipton, executive director of ISC2, said that the public has historically had few trusted sources for information on security.

"We created the ISC2 Foundation not only to deepen the impact of our social responsibility programmes, but to pay our success forward by creating an entity dedicated to giving back to the community," he added.

"With the Foundation, we will keep more children safe from online predators, send more promising young people to school, and conduct more research that leads to public policy initiatives in support of our industry."

The Foundation will support existing ISC2 programmes including Safe and Secure Online which encourages information security professionals to teach security basics to seven to 14 year-olds on a voluntary basis.

The Information Security Scholarship Programme, meanwhile, has already granted over $300,000 in scholarships to nearly 30 recipients since 2004.

ISC2 also launched its Chapter Programme today, allowing members to build their own global chapters to better connect and collaborate.