After a record number of cyberattacks in 2020, there are concerns schools could see more of these attacks as kids return to class.
Remote learning is still happening in some cases and schools are relying more now on technology for learning and school operations.
Last year, there were more than 400 incidents, according to the K-12 Security Information Exchange. But the nonprofit’s director says it’s hard to know the actual frequency and severity of these attacks.
“What public reporting requirements exist for, say school data breaches or ransomware incidents or other sorts of attacks are quite weak and variable, so in many cases, particularly as a parent, it can be very difficult to have insight into, you know, the sort of cyber risk management practices of school districts and experiences they’ve had,” said Doug Levin, National Director of the K-12 Security Information Exchange.
The impacts of these attacks can vary, but they mostly hurt kids directly through what can happen to their personal information.
“The criminals actually prefer getting the identity information of very young people, because they have not established credit records and they’re not monitoring their credit….
