August 30, 2024 | By christa

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Understanding the Importance of Cybersecurity in Schools

• Cybersecurity

Imagine the following: you’re a public school student. Every day you wake up, take the bus to school, go to classes, eat lunch in the cafeteria, attend an after-school club, and get picked up by one of your parents to head home. Sometimes, if your parents are sick, a different family member or a close family friend will get you.  

Now, think about the information your school needs for you to carry out this typical day. Registering for classes in the first place means your school needs a copy of your medical records and birth certificate. You take the bus each morning, so they also have information regarding where you live. Since you buy lunch at school, there’s probably some kind of financial information attached to your name. Finally, the school knows who your parents are and who your secondary/emergency contacts are.  

This only skims the surface of the information educational institutions need from students and their families. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that tight systems are in place to keep it safe, especially from cybercriminals who can exploit some of the most vulnerable members of any given population.  

The Vulnerability of Student Data in Schools

It will come as a shock to some, then, that there’s a rising trend of hackers targeting the data of public schools. 

When schools are locked out of their systems by cybercriminals, they lose access to bus route maps and schedules, what medications some students take during the day, and payroll systems for paying educators and administrators. As a result, schools are shut down for days as they scramble to regain control of their data. 

But this is only the immediate damage. If hackers put a ransom on the data, then the information of students and their families very well can be sold on the dark web. Criminals may then buy the information of a child to commit identity theft, destroying their credit scores before they even have a credit card of their own.  

The Role of Technology and Lack of Cybersecurity Resources

Why are these attacks on the rise? For starters, students and staff alike are more attached to technology than ever. Big tech companies (think Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc.) invest millions of dollars into products targeted for school use, often providing schools with grants or donations.  

It’s easy for students and staff alike to accidentally allow malware to breach these devices, especially if they lack the proper training on how to detect it. Suspicious links, phishing attempts, and poor password choice can victimize anyone, regardless of age or experience.  

The risk remains present when personal devices are used for school-related purposes as well. Any device connected to the school’s network—whether it be managed by the district or holds log-in information for an associated account—is at risk of falling victim to ransomware attacks. 

Then there’s the age-old dilemma of staffing. Forbes reports that 66% of K-12 school districts have no full-time cyber security resources or staff. Little to no cyber security support means no cyber security awareness training (for staff OR students) and no line of defense against hackers. As a result, districts end up losing an exorbitant amount of money on hiring a third-party IT support team to try and help them recover when a cyber-attack does impact their schools.  

The Importance of Proactive Cybersecurity Measures

While providing students with devices that promote the progression of their academic achievements is important, ensuring those devices won’t victimize them in a data leak is even more important. Providing ample cyber security support to school districts is not only wise financial due to the proactive protection it provides, but also a matter of student, staff, and family safety. Cyber security in schools can educate students and staff on the actions they can take to keep themselves safe, as well as protect them from malicious intruders stalking the network.  

LeadingIT is a cyber-resilient technology and cybersecurity support provider. With our concierge support model, we provide customized solutions to meet the unique needs of nonprofits, schools, manufacturers, accounting firms, government agencies, and law offices with 20-200 employees in the Chicagoland area. Our team of experts solves the unsolvable while helping our clients leverage technology to achieve their business goals, ensuring the highest level of security and reliability.