Update and possible correction: this may be a different breach than the one first reported in February 2020. The post below has been edited to reflect that while I attempt to verify if this was a second incident or not. Yesterday, AIU issued a press release about an incident they say they discovered in January…
Category: Education Sector
Judson ISD’s ransomware nightmare won’t be cheap
Brandon Lingle really laces into Judson ISD over their incident response and transparency in the wake of a June ransomware incident. It appears that the district paid an undisclosed amount of ransom to unidentified threat actors, but it’s not clear what they got for that ransom payment. It was a month before phone and email…
Education Industry at Higher Risk for IT Security Issues Due to Lack of Remote and Hybrid Work Policies
POWAY, Calif., July 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Apricorn, the leading manufacturer of software-free, 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted USB drives, today announced findings for the education sector from the Apricorn 2021 Global IT Security Survey. According to the survey, the education industry has a greater risk for cybersecurity breaches and data loss than other industries due to limited IT security…
NY Comptroller Audit: Mount Pleasant Central School District – Information Technology User Accounts (2021M-31)
When, if ever, will there be actual consequences for school districts that still do not practice basic security hygiene? Comptroller DiNapoli has released yet another k-12 district IT audit where the are results so bad that they won’t make them public. From the state’s summary: Audit Objective Determine whether Mount Pleasant Central School District (District)…
Emma Willard School hit by ransomware attack
Kathleen Moore reports: Emma Willard School has been dealing with a ransomware attack that struck the school last week, school Head Jennifer Rao said in a letter to the school community. Personal financial information for some members of the Emma Willard community was stolen. Employees’ Social Security numbers were also taken, she said in the…
State audits of school district IT reveal why k-12 districts are sitting ducks for threat actors
On July 15, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released the following school district audits. Clicking on the links will take you to the fuller reports, but even then, some things were so bad, it seems, that findings were told to the districts, but not put in writing in public reports that threat actors…