Data breaches are a costly business. The global expense of cybercrime last year reached nearly $600 billion – roughly 0.8% of global GDP, according to cybersecurity firm McAfee. This is an increase of $100 billion from four years prior.
And unfortunately, the rate of cybercrime shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, it's becoming easier to commit crimes online.
Hoping to combat the increasing amount of data breaches and cybercrimes on the internet, a Twin Cities entrepreneur has established a new school to educate a new group of cybersecurity experts.
Minneapolis-based SHYLD Academy is an online school that trains its users on how to prevent various forms of cybercrime. It currently offers two courses on differing cybersecurity topics. These classes run from $100 for individuals and $200 for corporate employees.
"Data breaches are becoming daily news," SHYLD Founder Tyler Olson told Minne Inno. "Most data breaches we hear about start with a single person in the company doing the basics of cybersecurity incorrectly. If everyone were to change maybe six behaviors, we could stop over 90% of the breaches we hear about."
Olson's experience with cybersecurity started about a decade ago when he was working on Norm Coleman's senate campaign. In early 2009, the campaign was hacked by Wikileaks, compromising information (including partial credit card and Social Security numbers) about more than 4,700 of Coleman's online donors. Wikileaks also linked to a list of more than 50,000 Coleman supporters.
"It was stressful, but a really good learning experience," he said.
Since then, Olson has gone on to speak at more than 300 engagements about this and other experiences he's had within the cybersecurity industry. He founded SHYLD earlier this year. Last month, the company successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign, raising nearly $16,000 from 67 backers.
Around 70 people have signed up so far to participate in SHYLD's classes, Olson said. The company hopes to close on a few B2B deals by the end of the year that could recruit a few hundred more students. By the end of Q1 2020, SHYLD plans to open its first official campus in Minneapolis. At the end of 2020, Olson plans to begin expanding to additional locations.
Olson hopes that in the future everyone will be able to access and understand the basics of cybersecurity.
"In order for us to be safe, we need everybody to learn the basics," he said.
