UTS and Kyndryl expand NFP Cyber Resilience program

The Kyndryl Foundation and University of Technology Sydney have announced the conclusion of their Cyber Resilience Program pilot, aimed at building cybersecurity skills within Australia's not-for-profit sector.

The pilot program trained 397 learners, which is a 340 per cent increase from initial projections of 90 participants in the first year.

Following the pilot's success, the program now opens to the Australian public with Kyndryl Foundation partnering with UTS to provide fully funded training for up to 1,400 individuals working in the not-for-profit sector over the next two years.

The initiative seeks to address critical cybersecurity vulnerabilities within not-for-profit organisations, which often hold large amounts of sensitive data whilst lacking resources for robust cyber training.

The program comprises four non-technical short courses covering cybersecurity foundations.

They are data privacy, secure data handling, and cybersecurity for company directors, alongside one technical micro-credential focused on threat detection and response.

Participants during the pilot included individuals from technical and non-technical roles across diverse not-for-profit organisations serving Indigenous, refugee and low socio-economic communities, as well as UTS students.

"UTS is proud to be providing a service that helps not-for-profit organisations and the communities they serve through training that addresses head-on the growth in cybercrime that is targeting small enterprises, which are vulnerable to cyber-attacks," Peta Wyeth, dean of the Faculty of Engineering and IT at University of Technology Sydney, said.

The expansion reflects growing recognition of cybersecurity skills gaps within the not-for-profit sector as cyber threats continue targeting vulnerable organisations.

"We are seeing a clear, strong demand for accessible cybersecurity education within the not-for-profit sector over the last year," Erandhi Mendis, social impact leader at Kyndryl Australia and New Zealand said.

"Cyber resilience shouldn't be a privilege."

The program was developed through consultation with not-for-profit organisations and industry experts to ensure training addresses real-world cybersecurity challenges facing the sector.

The Kyndryl Foundation was launched in 2023 as the philanthropic arm of technology services company Kyndryl, and supports communities through grant funding, volunteerism and strategic investments addressing critical societal issues.