The White House held its first-ever cybersecurity “summit” on the ransomware attacks plaguing U.S. schools.
FILE - In this June 19, 2018, file photo, a router and internet switch are displayed in East Derry, N.H. The White House on Tuesday held its first-ever cybersecurity summit on the ransomware attacks plaguing U.S. schools, which has included hackers leaking sensitive student data such as medical records, psychiatric evaluations and student sexual assault reports.
At least 48 districts have been hit by ransomware attacks this year — already three more than in all of 2022, according to the. All but 10 had data stolen, the firm reported. Typically, Russian-speaking foreign-based gangs steal the data — sometimes including the Social Security numbers and financial data of district staff — before activating network-encrypting malware then threaten to dump it online unless paid in cryptocurrency.
“Do not underestimate the ruthlessness of those who would do us harm,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during the summit, noting that even reports on suicide attempts have been dumped online by criminal extortionists and urging educators to avail themselves ofEducation tech experts praised the Biden administration for the consciousness-raising but lamented that limited federal funds currently exist for them to tackle a scourge that cash-strapped school districts have been...
“That's a drop in the bucket,” said Keith Krueger, CEO of the nonprofit Consortium for School Networking. School districts wrote the FCC last fall asking that it commit much more — Krueger said some $1 billion could be made available annually from its E-Rate program, which has helped expand broadband internet to schools and libraries across the country since 1997.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho of the Los Angeles district, the nation's second-largest, recounted for summit attendees lessons learned and best practices for mitigating the impact of extortionist ransomware attacks.
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