October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Most people may assume that the effort in increasing awareness is primarily for the benefit of businesses. While businesses absolutely need to do their part to minimize cyber risk, school districts shoulder as much, if not more, responsibility for maintaining strong cybersecurity. It’s more than just a compliance issue – it’s a matter of doing everything possible to protect student data.
Resources for Improving Cybersecurity in your School
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, provides a number of resources for schools. There is also guidance for parents, to help them teach their children to be more cybersecure, with additional resources for schools to assist parents, including:
- Cyber Security Awareness Volunteer Education (C-SAVE) – a scenario-based curriculum for K-12 students.
- Project iGuardian, in partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) directorate, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, offers Internet safety presentations to schools around the country.
- Schools can also download this factsheet (PDF) from CISA on the threats inherent to remote learning.
Add Social Media and Cyber Safety to Your Curriculum
Schools have the opportunity to help improve cybersecurity by educating students to be cyber smart from the start. By teaching students how to protect their own identities online, how to use social media platforms responsibly, and how to be more cyber secure as individuals – using passwords, 2FA, VPNs, and more – we can make sure the next generation stays one step ahead of hackers and cyber criminals.
Cyber.org offers this great video on social media safety that can help get you started, as well as this downloadable fact sheet (PDF).
Make Sure Your Cybersecurity Is Up to Speed in Your School
One of the best ways to ensure that your student data remains protected is to manage how personally identifiable information (PII) is shared. Lumen Touch’s Bright PASSPORT™ provides districts with a library of approved apps that have been properly vetted to meet the required security standards. Learn more.
Does Your School Need a Cybersecurity Audit?
In order to begin making improvements to your cybersecurity strategy, you need to know where your weaknesses are. That’s why Lumen Touch is offering a brand new service for schools: Bright LITE™. Our customized service offering provides individuals and organizations with the information and education to efficiently evaluate both the risks and opportunities they face.
To learn more about how Lumen Touch can help your school remain cyber secure, get in touch.
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