"Schools Should Prep for Ransomware With Response and Comms Plans, Experts Say"

Experts further highlight that better incident response plans and transparency with the public can help K-12 schools reduce the damage of cyberattacks. Doug Levin, co-founder and national director of the K12 Security Information eXchange, explained during GovExec's May 18 Cybersmart TV segment that the education sector faces various cyber challenges, including ransomware, targeted phishing scams, data breaches, and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. Ransomware actors have been increasingly targeting K-12 schools since 2019. According to Levin, the most commonly reported incident faced by K-12 schools involves cybercriminals exfiltrating data about students and staff to boost their payoff demands. In addition to raising awareness, experts say schools need better incident response strategies. Very few educational organizations have plans in place that are designed to deal with cyberattacks. Plans should also cover how to communicate with stakeholders. Schools are encouraged to be transparent about security breaches as there have been districts that received poor headlines for hiding relatively minor occurrences. Others that experienced more damaging attacks gained the trust of parents and teachers by being more transparent about the incidents. This article continues to discuss cybersecurity threats facing K-12 schools and how school districts can mitigate the impact of cyberattacks.

GCN reports "Schools Should Prep for Ransomware With Response and Comms Plans, Experts Say"