Security & Privacy


Illuminate Education Breach Included Los Angeles Unified & Riverside County Districts, Pushing Total Impacted to Over 3M

The breach of student data that occurred during a January 2022 cyberattack targeting Illuminate Education’s systems is now known to have impacted the nation’s second-largest school district, Los Angeles Unified with 430,000 students, and all the districts within Riverside County, pushing the total number of students whose private data was stolen to at least 3 million.

Zayo Group Completes Acquisition of Education Networks of America

Zayo Group Holdings has completed its acquisition of Education Networks of America, combining the companies’ solutions including managed network connectivity, communications, cloud technology, and cybersecurity services to K–12 school districts participating in the federal E-Rate program, according to a news release.

IBM Invites K-12 Schools in U.S. to Apply For Cybersecurity Grants of $500K Apiece

IBM will provide resources and staff support worth $3 million to help address cybersecurity resiliency in schools to six K–12 school districts in the United States for the second consecutive year, according to a news release.

Ransomware Data Breaches' Growth Last Year Equal to Last 5 Years Combined, Verizon Report Says

Data breaches resulting from ransomware attacks increased 13% last year — equal to the last five years’ increase combined — and are impacting more education organizations than ever, according to the recently released Verizon Business 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report.

Identity Automation, Infinite Campus Partner to Streamline Identity Management, Data Interoperability

Identity Automation and student information system provider Infinite Campus have launched a new partnership to significantly improve efficiencies in account provisioning, authentication management, rostering, and data interoperability, company officials said.

Battelle For Kids Data Breach Impact Spreads from Ohio to Illinois, Now Includes 600K+ Students

Chicago Public Schools is the fourth U.S. school district to publicly announce its students were among those whose private information was stolen in the Dec. 1, 2021, ransomware attack on Battelle For Kids as the number of students impacted continues growing.

CoSN Survey of IT Leaders Shows Ransomware Underestimated, Cybersecurity Still Woefully Understaffed

The Consortium on School Networking’s latest State of Ed Tech Leadership Survey reveals that despite warnings from multiple agencies and rising incidents of ransomware attacks targeting K–12 schools, IT leaders continue to underestimate the risk of ransomware to their districts, and IT departments remain woefully understaffed with very few having a dedicated full-time employee managing cybersecurity, CoSN said.

How To Evaluate & Nurture Your District's Cybersecurity Readiness

Schools can counter the growing wave of ransomware attacks with the proper tools and resources even in difficult cases where there is little to no involvement from all stakeholders — or if there’s no room in the IT budget for enhanced cybersecurity efforts — by strategically implementing these cyber benchmarks.

Illuminate Data Breach Spreads to Fifth State as Oklahoma City Notifies Parents

Oklahoma City Public Schools has added its 34,000 students to the growing list of those impacted by the Illuminate Education data breach that occurred during a January cyberattack — the first in Oklahoma known to have been among the K–12 schools and districts whose private student data was compromised within Illuminate’s systems.

Linewize Offers No Cost Student Safety Audits to All US Schools and Districts

Linewize is offering a no-cost student safety audit to every U.S. school and district through the end of June, including a review of a school’s safety plans and a trial of its student online activity monitoring solution, followed by a report for school administrators identifying potential risks and recommendations for implementing a “holistic student safety program,” the company said.

Whitepapers