Thousands of school districts have tapped into resources committed by the private sector to shore up their cyberdefenses.
A year ago this week, First Lady Jill Biden entered the White House East Room, greeted by an audience of some 200 education technology stakeholders, to headline the launch of a Biden administration initiative to bolster school cybersecurity, following myriad incidents where hackers set their sights on school districts around the country. The digital intrusions have crippled schools’ tech infrastructure and led to compromises of sensitive student data, forcing administrators to direct funds away from vital services toward costly and prolonged IT overhauls.
For the initiative, the White House brought in private sector executives who, behind closed doors, worked out discussions with the Biden administration’s top cyber officials over the course of just a few weeks, agreeing to offer up free and subsidized cybersecurity resources for schools in need of added digital shielding.
Recent years have proven that cyber threats to schools could no longer be ignored. Schools are a key sub-sector housed under the umbrella of government facilities, one of 16 critical infrastructure sectors designated by U.S. cyber experts. In the 2022 to 2023 school year alone, officials made note of multiple cyberattacks that targeted American school districts, according to a senior administration official who spoke to reporters last year in the hours leading up to the White House event.
Route Fifty
By David DiMolfetta,
Cybersecurity Reporter, Nextgov/FCW
August 7, 2024