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Google and Microsoft commit to cybersecurity assistance for rural hospitals
The pledges aim to impact the nation’s 1,800 to 2,100 rural facilities.

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By
Billy Hurley
17 June 2024
less than 3 min read
Google and Microsoft are working together—and it’s not on a chatbot or new virtual reality glasses for cartoon paper clips.
The Biden administration announced on June 10 that the two tech giants have committed to making their cybersecurity services and training more easily available to rural hospitals—facilities that the executive branch noted can suffer greater disruptions from healthcare-related cyberattacks, in part because their remote locations make diverting care more difficult.
Microsoft. According to a same-day announcement on its site, the company will give “nonprofit pricing and discounts for its security products optimized for smaller organizations, providing up to a 75% discount,” along with free cybersecurity training, assessments, and—for at least one year, the company says—Windows 10 security updates.
Google. The White House said that Google will “provide endpoint security advice to rural hospitals and nonprofit organizations at no cost,” as well as a pilot program designed to help rural facilities “develop a packaging of security capabilities that fit these hospitals’ unique needs.”
Spokespeople for the two companies were not available for comment at the time of publication.