In an effort to assist K-12 organizations with building, operating and maintaining cybersecurity programs, the Cybersecurity and Information Security Agency (CISA) released guidelines that are designed to help reduce the current cybersecurity threat landscape for K-12 schools.
As K-12 school districts began adopting advanced networking technologies in an effort to facilitate learning and make schools more efficient and effective, the move introduced heightened cybersecurity risks as malicious cyber actors began targeting these organizations. Then, as schools quickly and unexpectedly transitioned to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable new technologies were adopted, expanding the threat of cyberattacks and further straining resources, negatively impacting the delivery of education services and putting students, their families, teachers and administrators at risk.