The past couple of weeks, K-12 schools were hit hard with ransomware attacks. This week follows a tumultuous fall, full of cyber breaches and ransomware attacks that have hit schools across the U.S. and it has garnered government attention.
Huntsville City Schools in Alabama will remain closed for the week amid a ransomware cyberattack. According to a school spokesperson the district immediately responded after finding out about the breach.
Interested in learning about the resources, tools, and grant opportunities offered by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to help improve school security and resiliency?
Join CISA's School Safety Task Force for a webinar on K-12 School Infrastructure Security Best Practices Webinar on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 at 3:00 pm - 3:45 pm EST in support of this year's Infrastructure Security Month.
The Kenosha Unified School District (KUSD) of Wisconsin has selected an AI-based platform focused solely on weapons detection to help improve security on its campuses. The solution will identify visible guns if present and send alerts to school administrators and security personnel within three to five seconds, helping to stop violent threats before they occur.
Cybercriminals are taking notice of the seemingly endless vulnerabilities schools face. Take the explosive ransomware attack on the University of Utah from earlier this summer, or the malware attack on the Rialto school district in California, for example. Even with a rapidly increasing attack surface, schools aren’t exactly able to drain their already-limited funding on transforming their IT infrastructure in the midst of a global pandemic. However, it is possible for schools to reduce risk by understanding where they are most vulnerable, taking the time to educate teachers, parents and students, and adopting certain tools and strategies to prevent targeted attacks on remote learning networks.
The Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) has released the fifth edition of its Safety and Security Guidelines for K-12 Schools, which offers the most comprehensive information available on nationwide best practices specifically for securing school facilities, from subject matter experts across the education, public safety and industry sectors.
State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman announced at River Springs Elementary School that the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) will purchase and distribute over $33 million worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) and supplies to all eighty one public school districts to support efforts to maintain and return to face to face instruction.
Cadillac, Michigan Area Public Schools (CAPS) close to a half a million dollars to enhance training and physical security measures for school safety and security.
Previously, school districts dealt with securing their systems at both the district and school level. But now, teaching, learning and working are all happening at home simultaneously. It’s messy, far more complicated, and gives our cyber and IT teams significantly less control over networks and security than there was when traditional in-school learning was the norm. It’s especially crucial we keep our security measures tight, even if it feels like an uphill battle.
The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) announced nearly $50 million in school safety funding through its School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP). SVPP provides up to 75% funding for school safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools and school grounds.
