CISA and FBI Warn of Rise in Ransomware Attacks Targeting K-12 Schools (zdnet.com) 13
In a joint security alert published this week, the US Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warned about increased cyber-attacks targeting the US K-12 educational sector, often leading to ransomware attacks, the theft of data, and the disruption of distance learning services. From a report: "As of December 2020, the FBI, CISA, and MS-ISAC continue to receive reports from K-12 educational institutions about the disruption of distance learning efforts by cyber actors," the alert reads. "Cyber actors likely view schools as targets of opportunity, and these types of attacks are expected to continue through the 2020/2021 academic year," it added.
But of all the attacks plaguing the K-12 sector (kindergarten through twelfth-grade schools), ransomware has been a particularly aggressive threat this year, CISA and the FBI said. "According to MS-ISAC data, the percentage of reported ransomware incidents against K-12 schools increased at the beginning of the 2020 school year," the two agencies said. "In August and September, 57% of ransomware incidents reported to the MS-ISAC involved K-12 schools, compared to 28% of all reported ransomware incidents from January through July," they said.
But of all the attacks plaguing the K-12 sector (kindergarten through twelfth-grade schools), ransomware has been a particularly aggressive threat this year, CISA and the FBI said. "According to MS-ISAC data, the percentage of reported ransomware incidents against K-12 schools increased at the beginning of the 2020 school year," the two agencies said. "In August and September, 57% of ransomware incidents reported to the MS-ISAC involved K-12 schools, compared to 28% of all reported ransomware incidents from January through July," they said.
Re: (Score:1)
If the kids are sitting around at home "distance learning" over the Internet, you can bet a fair number of them are already looking at butt sex on their machines anyway...
When my kids logged into their Chromebooks with their school accounts, it locked down everything. I was impressed, especially considering they are Chromebooks I bought that have never been touched by school IT.
Disruption of Learning? (Score:4)
My kids' schools have been closed for 9 months. Can't get any worse than that.
Re: (Score:2)
It is not "gets" for most of those teachers. They very much want to be in their classrooms, but threat of death makes it impossible for many. And the ones who are working from home are generally going way above and beyond to try to make the distance learning work. It is a long way from ideal. Please don't describe it as "gets". It isn't a privilege to be cut off from their classrooms.
Re: (Score:3)
How about increasing funding of IT and pay competitive wages.
But IT is still considered an expense for both public and private institutions, so they only pay for the bare minimum.
Plus the very first time a VP or a High Level Person hits one small snag due to security policies, all security needs to be removed for that person. Then you see these articles appearing.
One Example of an Impacted School System (Score:2)
Huntsville Alabama schools are currently impacted by a ransomware attack and have moved to distributing paper to students at home. This is one of multiple stories with updates (https://www.waaytv.com/content/news/Huntsville-City-School-system-remains-shut-down-573338271.html).
If there are lots of schools impacted, it will be interesting to see if law enforcement actually does anything about the attacks. At this point, it seems as though ransomware is a pretty low risk activity for the attackers.
Cybercriminals? Or kids? (Score:2)
If I could've said the Internet ate my homework, and had known how to do a DDOS or install a cryptovirus through a VPN, I might have been tempted to do this to some of the schools I went to back in the day, too. Any ransoms actually paid would have just been a bonus. ;)
Change name from Ransom to BULLY (Score:1)