WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Ahead of the new school year, the U.S. Department of Education announced new resilience efforts to combat cybersecurity threats to K-12 digital infrastructure on Monday, according to a press release.
The efforts include establishing a Government Coordinating Council (GCC) and the release of three K-12 Digital Infrastructure briefs: “K-12 Digital Infrastructure Brief: Defensible and Resilient,” “Adequate and Future-Proof” and “Privacy-Enhancing, Interoperable and Useful.”
The hope behind these efforts is to unite government leaders to make critical advancements in fortifying cybersecurity resilience in the K-12 community, the press release said.
“Let’s face it: in today’s digital age, our students and their teachers will increasingly use technology in the classroom. Schools have access to more devices and connectivity than ever before, and this technology in education has incredible potential to help students better connect with their learning and achieve, and teachers better engage with their students,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said. “But to make the most of these benefits, we must effectively manage the risks.”
The goal of these cybersecurity resilience efforts is to plan and prepare for digital risks in schools and classrooms.
Over the past year, schools have seen an increase in cybersecurity threats. Confidential documents have been stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs, revealing raw, intimate and graphic details.
Some of these documents describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy and even suicide attempts.
Complete sexual assault case folios containing these details were among more than 300,000 files dumped online in March after the 36,000-student Minneapolis Public Schools refused to pay a $1 million ransom. Other exposed data included medical records, discrimination complaints, Social Security numbers and contact information of district employees.
Rich in digitized data, the nation’s schools have become prime targets for far-flung criminal hackers, who are assiduously locating and scooping up sensitive files that not long ago were committed to paper in locked cabinets.
Another recent attack carried out by Russian cybercriminals exposed the personal data of tens of thousands of New York City public school students. School officials estimated about 19,000 district documents were illegally retrieved, impacting 45,000 students and an undisclosed number of DOE staff.
The need to prioritize education cybersecurity has become more apparent than ever.
The GCC will work to coordinate activities, policies, and communications between federal, state, local, tribal and territorial governments that strengthen cyber defenses for schools, according to the press release.
At the White House, a back-to-school safety event to be hosted Monday will serve as an important platform to address any challenges faced by educators, students and families in the digital realm.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.