Scaling Cyber Defense in K–12: Lessons from Knox County Schools

K–12 school districts continue to face a surge in cyber threats, including phishing, account takeover, and increasingly sophisticated, socially engineered attacks. For Knox County Schools, which serves more than 60,000 students, protection requires more than native cloud security controls and manual response processes.

In this session, Doug Levin, National Director at K12 SIX, and Patricia Titus, Field CISO at Abnormal AI, are joined by Freddie Cox, Chief Technology Officer at Knox County Schools, for an inside look at how one of Tennessee’s largest school districts is strengthening their detection, response, and operational resilience at scale. You’ll hear:

• How the threat landscape for K–12 has evolved, and why school districts are such attractive targets.
• Where native protections in platforms like Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 fall short.
• Why behavioral intelligence is critical for detecting sophisticated, socially engineered attacks.
• How Knox County Schools moved from manual, reactive responses to a more automated approach.

Whether you’re an IT leader, security practitioner, or district administrator, this session offers practical lessons and real-world insights for building a stronger, more scalable cybersecurity posture in today’s education environment.