A Toolkit for Holistic Physical Security in School Buildings mol.doak_fhrr Tue, 02/11/2025 - 10:15 Protecting students, teachers and staff requires a 360-degree approach as part of a holistic physical security strategy. Not only do schools need physical security measures, such as door locks and emergency communications, but they also require protection from threats, such as ransomware and malware. “Physical security and cybersecurity are intricately linked,” explains Jake Stauch, a former director of product at Verkada. “One really can’t exist without the other.” Physical security techno ..read more

How Schools Can Strengthen Cloud Security in the Face of Increasing Threats Rebecca.torchia_c7Ks Thu, 12/26/2024 - 02:50 K–12 schools are on the move — at least, their data and applications are. In a recent CDW report on the cloud, 94% of school technology leaders surveyed reported moving at least 10% of their applications to the cloud so they can enjoy cost savings, scalability, reliability, agility and even improved security. However, even though many report improved security in the cloud, 42% of school survey respondents share that the main reason they keep some applications on-premises is ..read more

Endpoint Protection for Schools: EDR and Monitoring Strategies marilyn.bain Fri, 12/20/2024 - 11:08 Schools face significant cyber challenges. In K–12, IT teams may be under-resourced, with limited budgets and personnel. Meanwhile, the shift to digital learning has expanded the attack surface, and most end users are kids, who may not be well versed in cybersecurity best practices. In this environment, endpoint detection and response is a crucial defense, providing real-time monitoring of devices and networks. EDR uses endpoint monitoring and data analytics to identify suspicious behavior. It ..read more

Windows 11 Delivers Built-In Security for Education and Beyond Rebecca.torchia_c7Ks Wed, 11/06/2024 - 12:41 Schools faced more ransomware attacks than hospitals or governments faced in 2023, according to research from Emsisoft. Districts were targeted more in 2023 than they were in the previous two years combined. Because of the heightened risk, schools need tools that provide security directly to users without further straining IT budgets. The various security features automatically included with Windows 11 — including Microsoft Defender products, identity protections and application securit ..read more

Cybersecurity Pilot Program for Education Earns an ‘A’ mol.doak_fhrr Tue, 10/29/2024 - 12:08 Nation-state adversaries and cybercriminals continue to launch cyberattacks at an unmatched pace across all industries, and the education sector is in their crosshairs. Education is among the most heavily targeted sectors due to its vast stores of valuable data and its comparatively weak security measures. Adversaries are aware of the personal data that schools, district offices, libraries and other targets hold, as well as the security shortcomings that create a low barrier to entry. K–12 institution ..read more

How Effective User Lifecycle Management Keeps K–12 Data Safer mol.doak_fhrr Tue, 10/22/2024 - 12:46 Like many organizations, technology teams in K–12 are the gatekeepers that make it possible for students and employees to access the tools they need to do their schoolwork or their jobs. Proper user lifecycle management can ensure that teachers, staff and students won’t have to worry about not having access to Microsoft Outlook or their Google Workspace for Education documents. And with school technology leaders reporting that data privacy and security is their second biggest concern, user life ..read more

How Identity Management Makes Schools Less Vulnerable to Cybercrime mol.doak_fhrr Mon, 10/21/2024 - 11:27 K–12 schools are No. 1, and not in a good way. Last year alone, the number of ransomware attacks on K–12 schools topped the number on secondary schools, hospital systems and governments. Other numbers schools may be considering come from Microsoft, which reports that “password-based attacks make up over 99% of the 600 million daily identity attacks” in the company’s own digital ecosystem. Faced with sobering data like this, school technology leaders such as Neeraj (Raj) Kapur are placing ..read more

Zero Trust Makes K–12 Schools More Cyber Resilient marilyn.bain Mon, 08/19/2024 - 10:13 K–12 schools expend a lot of resources to prevent cybersecurity breaches. Implementing effective security measures and training users on proper cyber hygiene is a good start to keeping attackers away from valuable student data. But all it takes is one person clicking on the wrong link for attackers to find a way to breach a school’s defenses. This is when cyber resilience — the ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from cyberthreats and incidents — becomes critical. And zero-trust strategies impro ..read more

Q&A: The State of Zero-Trust Security in K–12 Schools Rebecca.torchia_c7Ks Thu, 07/25/2024 - 16:11 Zero-trust security is the new gold standard for many businesses and organizations. Yet, in a recent CDW report, only 23% of education respondents said that their organization is in the advanced maturity level when implementing zero-trust initiatives. The largest proportion (38%) said they were in the initial stages of these implementations. To find out what K–12 schools are doing well and where they are facing roadblocks, EdTech: Focus on K–12 spoke with technology consultant Jill Pierce. P ..read more

Where Are You in Your Zero-Trust Maturity? mol.doak_fhrr Mon, 07/22/2024 - 09:24 Zero trust is an increasingly popular security architecture, especially when considering the security challenges associated with artificial intelligence. Despite its growing adoption in other industries, IT professionals in education have been slow to implement this new standard. The 2024 CDW Cybersecurity Report found that 38% of education respondents were in the initial stages of zero-trust maturity, and 18% had no initiatives underway. Comparatively, the report found that across various industries, 42% of resp ..read more