Okta for Good Launches New Grant Portfolio to Improve Cybersecurity for Nonprofits
June 23 2022 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
New Nonprofit Cybersecurity Portfolio commits
$1M+ as part of Okta’s 3-year Nonprofit Technology Initiative
Okta, Inc. (NASDAQ:OKTA), the leading independent identity
provider, today announced the launch of a Nonprofit Cybersecurity
Portfolio and $1,020,000 in grants to support better security
across the social sector. Stemming from Okta’s three-year
commitment to invest $10 million out of the Okta for Good Fund, a
donor-advised fund held at Tides Foundation, this grant comes at a
time when nonprofits are facing increased cyber attacks, putting
millions of already vulnerable people at even greater risk.
More than 50% of nonprofits report being targeted by
cyberattacks, yet most do not have the resources to maintain
adequate cybersecurity plans. Nonprofits are integral in doing
society’s most important work in coming together for common good.
Their data and the people they serve must be protected. Okta’s
Nonprofit Cybersecurity Portfolio, which is part of Okta’s
Nonprofit Technology Initiative, is the company’s first step in
supporting better security for nonprofits through six grants that
provide resourcing for projects ranging from training to incident
response support.
Nonprofit Cybersecurity Portfolio Grantees and
Projects
The funds will be distributed between six different
organizations and projects, selected in partnership with external
nonprofit security experts and Okta Security leadership including
David Bradbury, CSO, Okta and Jameeka Green Aaron, CISO, Auth0, a
product unit of Okta. The grantees selected are:
- CyberPeace Institute: The institute will use its
$150,000 grant to expand CyberPeace Builders, connecting corporate
cyber volunteers with nonprofits in need of cybersecurity
training.
- NetHope: With $375,000 from Okta over two years, the
organization will establish a “Dial-a-CISO” program and provide
coordinated incident response for NetHope members. In addition, to
further its commitment to the cybersecurity of nonprofit
organizations, NetHope will be using the grant to establish a
global humanitarian Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC)
service to support nonprofits involved in Humanitarian Relief and
engage the private sector in greater support of their cybersecurity
efforts, in collaboration with Okta and the United States Agency
for International Development (“USAID”).
- Norwegian Refugee Council: The organization will
leverage $290,000 over two years to create policies and training
materials for the safe handling of data in humanitarian response to
be scaled across a network of global nonprofits.
- Simply Secure: A grant of $80,000 will support
privacy and design consulting for nonprofit technology startups
that are building digital services for vulnerable populations.
- TechSoup Civil Society Strengthening Fund: Okta for Good
is proud to be the founding partner of this new program,
administered by TechSoup, to help civil society organizations in
and around Ukraine strengthen their cybersecurity posture, with
plans to expand globally in the future. In addition to its own
grant of $100,000, Okta is working to recruit its tech peers to
contribute to this program and to date, Zscaler has contributed
$20,000 and Zendesk $50,000.
- UC Berkeley Center for Long-term Cybersecurity
(CLTC): A $25,000 planning grant will explore areas for
potential future collaboration such as cybersecurity training for
graduate students and original research on public interest
cybersecurity issues.
“Our work at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is focused on
helping people forced to flee with access to their most basic and
necessary needs. The last thing the people we support should be
worried about is if their personal data is safe," said Pietro
Galli, CIO, NRC. "We are grateful for Okta’s support in helping
nonprofits improve their cybersecurity which is a critical, yet
underfunded, area.”
Okta’s Nonprofit Technology Initiative launched in 2020 with the
goal of contributing to a paradigm shift in how nonprofits are
funded and enabled to make the digital transition. It focuses on
three key areas including accelerating nonprofits’ move to the
cloud, supporting digital transformation to enable nonprofits to
reach their stakeholders digitally at scale, and securing
nonprofits and their critical data. The Nonprofit Cybersecurity
Portfolio is Okta’s first grant program focused on this third
priority and brings the company’s total commitments through the
Nonprofit Technology Initiative to nearly $6.5 million.
“I believe deeply that what we do at Okta isn’t just about
technology—it’s about people. There’s nothing more important than
the people we support and help to protect, which is why I am
passionate about advocating for nonprofits and their missions and
helping them protect the identities of their people,” said Jameeka
Green Aaron, CISO, Auth0, a product unit of Okta. “I was thrilled
to be a part of this Okta for Good effort to identify areas of need
and to expand our work in securing nonprofits and their critical
data.”
To learn more about the Nonprofit Technology Initiative, visit
https://www.okta.com/okta-for-good/nonprofit-technology-initiative/.
About Okta
Okta is the leading independent identity provider. The Okta
Identity Cloud enables organizations to securely connect the right
people to the right technologies at the right time. With more than
7,000 pre-built integrations to applications and infrastructure
providers, Okta provides simple and secure access to people and
organizations everywhere, giving them the confidence to reach their
full potential. More than 15,800 organizations, including JetBlue,
Nordstrom, Slack, Takeda, Teach for America, and Twilio, trust Okta
to help protect the identities of their workforces and
customers.
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Laura Szatkowski press@okta.com
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