IBM and Red Hat Offer Free Security Platform to Universities and NGOs

IBM and Red Hat have announced that they will offer their Lightwell platform at no charge to over 185 leading research universities and 100 major NGOs and think tanks in the United States. This move is aimed at strengthening open source software supporting research, education, and mission-critical work.

Lightwell combines AI-driven automation with human engineering expertise to identify, validate, and remediate vulnerabilities in open source software. Participating institutions will receive access to validated fixes for the software versions they currently run, reducing the need for disruptive upgrades.

The program builds on Lightwell's existing work with leading financial institutions, including Bank of America, BNY, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase, Mastercard, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada, State Street, Visa, and Wells Fargo. A growing technology ecosystem is also collaborating with IBM and Red Hat on Lightwell, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), AMD, F5, GitLab, Intel, JFrog, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Palo Alto Networks, and ServiceNow.

The expanded access program will begin in August 2026, and eligible institutions can learn more about Lightwell at ibm.com/products/lightwell or redhat.com/en/lightwell.