After a recent ransomware attack, a cybercriminal published CCSD (Clark County School District) information, including its students’ names, grades, and addresses. President of the US Joe Biden signed the K–12 Cybersecurity Act of 2021 into law, and it will aid school districts in protecting themselves against cybercrime.
Senator Jacky Rosen co-sponsored this law after the ransomware attack, which affected the US’s fifth biggest school district. Rosen stated that the bill would direct the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to perform an in-depth examination to report about vulnerabilities in nationwide school districts.
The bill stipulates that the CISA would study the challenges that schools have in protecting their sensitive employee and student records as well as information systems. Cybersecurity issues have impacted nationwide public schools. Clark County School District works to ensure the protection of its students, their family members, and workers’ information.
Rosen regards the data breach in connection with CCSD as an unacceptable practice. After CCSD declined to pay the ransom concerned, the cybercriminal published its sensitive documents on the internet.
As for Rosen, non-CCSD entities in the country have also turned into ransomware attack victims. In the attack, which happens often, a hacker locks up data on computer storage space and then asks for a ransom.
As per Emsisoft’s Malware Lab, 1,681 colleges, universities and schools, as well as, 560 healthcare facilities in the nation were subjected to ransomware attacks last year. University Medical Center (UMC) reported a summer hacking incident that affected around 1.5 million individuals. The driver’s licenses, passport details and social security information of the victims were compromised as hackers got access to a server.
According to Rosen, every possible measure had to be taken to ensure proactivity about hacking. Over 2022, the CISA will talk to nationwide superintendents about online tools and resources to keep cyberattacks from happening.
Rosen stated that school staffers could also attend presentations and webinars on protecting against the attacks with measures like changing passwords. She also said that there are other cybersecurity bills on the anvil, which include one that would aid in protecting the nation’s infrastructure.
A different bill will educate the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on cybersecurity. Many senators introduced a resolution designating October 2021 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The resolution will not only raise cybersecurity awareness in the nation but also improve the condition of being secure online.
Senator Bill Cassidy stated that the internet is important in several aspects of day-to-day lives. For your information, Cassidy is the one who introduced the aforementioned resolution. Cassidy described Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CSAM) as a reminder for us to keep improving our defensive actions against new cybersecurity threats.
