Michael Elsen-Rooney reports: Following two high-profile data breaches, New York City’s Education Department has moved to shore up its cybersecurity protocols, increasing its vetting of software vendors and tightening email access for schools and parent leaders. Because of the new protocols, the school year has started without approvals for scores of programs, including popular ones…
Category: Education Sector
K–12 IT Administrators Encounter Additional Security Controls for Users Under 18
Rebecca Torchia reports: Following the shift to incorporate more online and digital learning, schools leaned into the adoption of educational software products and applications. Many of these applications tracked student data, with data collection being the primary driver of some applications’ use in schools, as educators found value in tools that could analyze students’ progress. In other cases,…
Identity of NSA hacker behind cyberattack on China’s leading aviation university identified; to be disclosed in due course: source
Yuan Hong reports: During the investigation of the cyberattack against Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), a leading Chinese aviation university, China has successfully extracted multiple samples of the spyware named SecondDate, and with the collaborative efforts of partners in various countries, the real identity of the US’ National Security Agency (NSA) personnel responsible for launching the…
Chambersburg Area School District answers some questions about ransomware attack, won’t say if they paid hackers
A statement and FAQ by the Chambersburg Area School District, as shared by TriState Alert, appears below.The district offers its reasons (translation: excuses) for not answering the questions parents and the public really want to know: did the district pay ransom, and was personal information acquired by the attackers? Although the district did not name…
MI: Cybercrime investigation causes half-day for East Jackson schools
Mitchell Kukulka reports: A potential cybercrime is causing classes to be cut to a half day in East Jackson Community Schools on Tuesday, Sept. 12, officials said. The incident currently is under investigation by the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety. School officials learned of the potential cybercrime Tuesday morning, Superintendent Steve Doerr said. Read more…
St. Paul Public Schools notifies families of data breach from February
KSTP reports: St. Paul Public Schools notified families and staff last week of a “data security incident” last winter that may have exposed students’ names and email addresses. In a letter sent out on Friday, the district said it became aware of the issue in February and flagged the FBI, Minnesota IT Services and the…