Information Technology

Information, news and features for the education sector IT professionals


Image shows scales of justice, Aeries SIS logo and Illuminate Education logo

Aeries Settles Data Breach Lawsuit for $1.75M; Illuminate Suit is Dismissed – For Now

Two ed tech providers that suffered data breaches that compromised private student information have seen civil lawsuits reach vastly different results — yet both should serve as a stark warning for ed tech companies collecting student data, a data privacy attorney told THE Journal.

OpenWiFi, Wi-Fi 7, 6 GHz, 5G Convergence to Drive Growth in Wireless Networking

Despite a number of challenges facing the tech sector in 2023, the next five years will see substantial growth in the proliferation of new wireless networking technologies, both in the enterprise and among consumers.

image shows a mobile phone calling a school principal

ParentSquare Adds Virtual Phone Feature for School Staff

School-home communications provider ParentSquare has unveiled a new Virtual Phone feature to its platform that documents and records voice communications between educators and families just as it does with other types of exchanges, according to a news release.

Photo representing ransomware with THE Journal logo

ClassLink's New DataGuard Tool 'Masks' PII in Roster Data Shared with Vendors

Identity and access management provider ClassLink has launched a new tool called DataGuard designed to reduce the amount of sensitive private data shared by schools with ed tech vendors, according to a news release.

VHS Learning Adds High School STEAM, IT, and Business Courses

Online instruction provider VHS Learning has added 11 new courses for the 2023–24 school year for high school students studying online either through their local school district or at home for supplemental learning, the nonprofit said in a news release.

Follow THEjournal.com for news about data breaches impacting K-12 schools and students across the United States

Federal Legislation Would Create K-12 Cybersecurity Improvement Program, Incident Registry

A new bill filed in both houses of Congress Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) would direct CISA to create a cybersecurity information exchange for K–12 schools, a voluntary incident registry, and a “Cybersecurity Technology Improvement Program” funded at $10 million per year for the next two years.

graphic shows student data, teacher data, and staff data all feeding into "School Passport" and coming out anonymized

School Passport 2.0 Puts Schools In Control of Data, 'Seamlessly Anonymizes' PII Shared with Ed Tech

Global Grid for Learning has unveiled its newest school data exchange solution designed to give schools better data analytics and control over data privacy while eliminating the need for vendors using the standards to access and share students’ protected private information, by using patented anonymization and API technology.

line graph shows K-12 education saw a massive increase in ransomware attacks in 2022 over 2021

Ransomware Targeting K-12 Grew a Massive 827% Last Year, SonicWall Reports

Ransomware attacks targeting K–12 schools worldwide last year grew at an “absolutely massive” rate of 827% over 2021, according to SonicWall’s 2023 Cyber Threat Report, and the data shows that education customers — those whose data is compromised during ransomware attacks — had the highest percentage reporting ransomware attempts of all sectors studied.

Photo representing ransomware with THE Journal logo

CISA Alerts on Seven New Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

In the past week, CISA has published alerts on seven known exploited vulnerabilities — two of which put a long list of Apple devices at risk — ordering federal agencies to remediate the identified vulnerabilities immediately and encouraging all organizations to do the same.

Graphic shows a chart from IDC on IT spending totals and projections

Analysts: Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 5.5% in 2023 as Digital Transformation Continues

Worldwide IT spending is projected to increase 5.5% this year to a total of $4.6 trillion by the close of 2023, according to the latest forecast by market researchers at Gartner, while IDC analysts detailed a decline in spending on non-cloud infrastructure and devices but project significant growth in cloud infrastructure spending.