Preparing K-12 to Defend Against Ransomware

Even before the pandemic, U.S. K-12 school districts were undergoing a digital transformation - digitizing paper-based processes and adopting ‘smart’ technologies for core services, including facilities management, transportation, HR and staffing, business services, and teaching and learning. The pandemic accelerated those trends, in support of providing online learning to children sheltering at home. But this also means that school systems represent a target-rich environment for ransomware and other cyber attacks.

The K12 Security Information eXchange (K12SIX) in its 2022 annual report estimates that over the past six years, there has been an average of more than one K-12 cyber incident per school day. And this understates the problem; K12SIX itself only tracks publicly-disclosed incidents, which “dramatically understates the scope of the issues facing K-12 schools, especially when disclosure requirements are weak and routinely circumvented. The true picture is surely bleaker; anecdotal evidence suggests perhaps 10 to 20 times more K-12 cyber incidents go undisclosed every year.” The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) takes the danger seriously, providing dedicated materials focused on K-12 ransomware threats.

Join us as thought leaders from education, government and industry discuss the security challenges facing school systems and the steps their leaders can take to protect their systems and assets.