Dive Brief:
- In a ransomware attack, hackers temporarily freeze access to data or network systems while demanding an amount of ransom money or bitcoins.
- These attacks are increasingly focused on hospitals, schools and police stations, FBI officials say.
- One school district in South Carolina paid a ransom of $10,000 after dozens of school servers were affected.
Dive Insight:
The FBI is advising districts to never pay ransoms, as such acquiescence only encourages the criminals to keep operating. Research from a variety of organizations and companies shows cyber attacks are on the rise, with a 73% increase in "unique malware samples" occurred between 2014 and 2015, according to a study by Dell.
So what should school systems do? Take preventative and proactive measures before a problem arises. Some experts recommend having IT professionals examine schools' existing options, such as built-in intrusion detection and prevention firewalls, which could possibly installed and utilized to safeguard against attacks at no additional cost.
Other creative approaches can involve students. In Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School District school administrators considered engaging students who worked around school iPad security functions to help lock down the devices.
