Children spread viruses of all sorts – at home and in the classroom. It is just something you come to expect. Did you know they can also spread Cyber viruses? If they access district network services from home, they can pick up these Cyber viruses at home and transmit them to your school network. They can also bring personal devices used at home to school and transmit unwanted cargo to your network. When you plan your Cybersecurity protection, it is important to account for this.
According to the August 2023 CISA bulletin “K-12 Digital Infrastructure Brief: Defensible and Resilient” the role of Students and Families as it relates to digital infrastructure is as follows:
- Students and Families: In partnership with schools and communities, families can collaborate with teachers and support secure access to digital infrastructure at home. Feedback from students and families can be an important way for schools to understand when tools or experiences are inaccessible, when data in progress reports are confusing, or when they feel unsafe in school or online. Students and families can also advocate that districts and vendors protect the privacy of students’ data.
Not only are students and their families a part of Cybersecurity, but they also play a part in making sure that your digital infrastructure stays accessible, understandable and useful. Education is key to making sure students and their families understand their part in supporting the school in their mission to provide the best and safest digital experience possible. Not only do students and families need to know what to do, but it is just as important to understand why they should do it. Below is an example of four things students and families (and everyone in your district) can do to make themselves safer online:
4 Things to Keep You Cyber Safe
- Turn on Multifactor Authentication. Implement multifactor authentication on your accounts and make it significantly less likely you'll get hacked.
- Update Your Software. Update your software. ...
- Think Before You Click. Think before you click. ...
- Use Strong Passwords.
This week’s suggestion:
Have you shared with students and families their role in keeping the district's digital infrastructure safe and accessible?
Do you know how student access to network digital resources from home or with personal devices can be a risk? If you do, have you taken steps (if necessary) to protect your district resources?
If you would like to learn how CSI can help you mitigate your Cyber risk we are happy to speak with you directly, just contact Lisa MacDougall (lmacdougall@csiny.com) or 845.897.9480.