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Cybersecurity in Wisconsin Schools

Cybersecurity in Wisconsin Schools

As the new school year arrives, we at DPI would like to remind everyone how important cybersecurity is.  It’s a sad fact that school districts in Wisconsin and across the U.S. continue to be targeted by cybercriminals.  A wrong click can lead to a data breach, ransomware attack, fraud attempt, or other cyber incident that can impact school operations and/or expose private information.    Preventing such incidents can be a daunting task for even the most resourceful school districts, and the reality is that cyberattacks are inevitable for every district, eventually. 

The good news is that there are steps every district can take to prepare for the inevitable:  

  • Effective cyberattack prevention begins with awareness. Take the time to ensure that everyone in your district knows your cybersecurity policies and expectations as well as the essentials of sound cyber hygiene – common-sense habits such as keeping passwords complex and private, keeping business and personal Internet usage separate, or avoiding clicking on links, opening attachments, calling back numbers or giving out confidential information requested in unusual or unsolicited communications.    
  • Always remember that bad cyber actors try to exploit our better nature to gain access to our systems and data.  If any request seems like it might require bending the rules or offers something too good to be true – even if it seems like it comes from the most trusted of sources, it might not be on the level.  Everyone in your district should know how to identify potentially deceptive messages, verify their authenticity and appropriateness, and who to tell (as soon as possible) if anything seems suspicious, appears unusual, or goes wrong.    
  • The emergence of deepfakes – audio and video that so closely mimic subjects’ personal appearance and speech that even those who know them can’t tell the difference – is adding a new dimension to fraud; districts should develop awareness of these threats and think about how staff can incorporate policies, processes and workplace cultures that resist deception.  
  • Districts should plan to recover from their worst cyber day.  Everyone in the district should know their role in the event of a cyber emergency – how to report and how to communicate, even when systems are down – and there are key steps that management can take to prepare.    
  • To resist ransomware attacks aiming to hold a district’s systems and data hostage (and potentially incapacitating schools for days or weeks), districts should ensure that critical data is backed up off-network (out of reach of the bad actor), have a recovery plan to replace any unrecoverable or damaged computing infrastructure, understand and be able to leverage their insurance coverage, know how to rapidly involve law enforcement and other resources (such as the Wisconsin Cyber Response Team), and plan to able to clearly communicate the situation to stakeholders and community.    
  • To resist attempted fraud (possibly leveraging deepfakes!), districts should also meet proactively with law enforcement and payment service providers (especially their banks) to plan for the interdiction and/or claw back of fraudulent payments.     
  • Most importantly – take the time to talk these scenarios through with your staff.  A little forethought goes a long way.  

For questions or more information, please feel free to reach out to Paul Neff (paul.neff@dpi.wi.gov; 608-267-9160), DPI Chief Information Security Officer.   

Resources   

State of Wisconsin  

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)  

Other Resources  

Please enjoy this back-to-school season with your students, staff, families, and communities.