On March 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education—in coordination with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)—held the kickoff meeting of the Education Facilities Subsector Government Coordinating Council (GCC), designed to facilitate formal, ongoing collaboration between all levels of government and the education sector on issues of K-12 cybersecurity risk management. Organized in response…
Category: Education Sector
TCAPS Hacked? School Cancelled on Monday for Students at Traverse City Area Public Schools
J.P. Isbell reports: The students who go to Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) will have an extra day (or two) to celebrate spring break – but not for a good reason. And it’s no joke, even though it’s April Fools’ Day soon. Phone calls and emails went out on Saturday evening regarding what TCAPS…
What Austin ISD said led to student information being released to non-guardians
Johann Castro reports: Some Austin ISD students mistakenly had their records released to people who weren’t their parents or legal guardians. According to a report from KVUE’s media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, documents revealed that a special education database vendor mistakenly released the private information for about 160 Austin students in December. The report…
Scranton School District hit by cyber attack
Sarah Hofius Hall reports: The Scranton School District is the target of a ransomware attack, the acting superintendent confirmed Friday. Third-party forensic specialists are investigating the source of the incident and the impact on district systems and will “restore full functionality to the system as soon as possible,” according to the statement from Acting Superintendent…
South St. Paul Public Schools investigating potential cybersecurity threat
Maraya King reports: South St. Paul Public Schools alerted families this week to an ongoing technology disruption that is being investigated. Staff and families were notified Monday of technical difficulties “that may disrupt certain services” like online platforms, emails and other digital services. On Tuesday the district said it had been made aware of “unauthorized activity within…
EPIC Emphasizes That FCC Pilot Program Protect Student Privacy, Not Just School Cybersecurity
From the good folks at EPIC.org: On February 27, EPIC filed reply comments with the Federal Communications Commission supporting the FCC’s proposal to use funds from its E-Rate program to support strengthening cybersecurity at schools and libraries, as these are increasingly attractive targets to hackers. The E-Rate program uses discounted pricing to facilitate schools and libraries providing…