K12 Schools are requested to enhance their ransomware defenses

The US DHS has requested K12 schools to boost their cybersecurity defenses, especially their ransomware protection protocols as more attacks are expected in the coming weeks. US senators Krysten Sinema, Chris Van Hollen, Maggie Hassan, and Jacky Rosen were the ones that have made this statement.

Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report on Nov 12th, stating the K-12 school threats issued on 2010 is completely outdated and is only focused on handling the physical threats.

“K-12 schools are increasingly coming under cyberattacks, driven largely by the rapid rise of ransomware,” said the four US Senators.

As per the general reports on cyberattacks targeting K-12 schools, 2019 had a 3x increase in attacks over 2018, and likewise 2020 had around 18% increase over 2019, which is why 2021 is also expected to see the rise with more sophistication this time. As per the Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow of cyberattacks on educational institution, ransomware attacks have infected around 1000 schools, colleges and universities in 2021 alone.

For context, ransomware attacks have disrupted learning at ~1k universities, colleges and schools so far this year. That's actually an improvement on 2020, but only because smaller districts are being hit.https://t.co/NmVd2dZv3F

— Brett Callow (@BrettCallow) November 12, 2021

Action taken to boost K-12 cybersecurity and ransomware defense

The GAO identified that there are two government agencies that are partnering with the K-12 schools for services and support including the incident response, network management and parent/student guidance. However, that alone won’t be sufficient, which is why the CISA and Department of Education to work together and figure out a more productive and secured way to enhance the overall defenses.

They will be working on updated sub-sector specific protocols, and determine if further hardening is required. They will start by enhancing and enriching the existing cybersecurity frameworks and further implement the best practices.”An updated sub-sector-specific plan will help the Department of Education and DHS effectively prioritize the risks, cyber and otherwise, to the Education Facilities sub-sector, while sub-sector specific guidance would help K-12 schools better use existing cybersecurity frameworks and implement best practices.”

The two agencies were also urged to establish a coordination council for education facilities to encourage better coordination between federal, state, local entities, and private sector groups that support K-12 schools.

According to the Senators, this would further strengthen their protection against cyberattacks, just as it happened in the case of the Election Infrastructure sub-sector.

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