Pace University is receiving a boost in funding to recruit and train students to be cybersecurity professionals.

The university is getting a $3.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation to mold students into the next generation of cyber defenders.

Computer science professor Li-Chiou Chen says there needs to be cyber defenders in the government to “help them analyze the threats and the risks coming from the internet."

The grant will support student scholarships with the goal of increasing diversity in the industry.

Just last week, cyber criminals targeted the City of Mount Vernon's internal email and cloud system. Over Labor Day weekend, the city of Yonkers was attacked with a ransomware virus.

A record $4.2 billion was lost to cybercriminals in 2020, and New York comes in fourth for states with victims who have lost the most money.