Last week I discussed the need to have all passwords minimally 12-18 characters to remain safe. While that is an absolute security requirement, we all know that our users are going to be pretty upset with this policy change.

Tech Tidbit – Making Passwords Simpler and Harder

Are Your Educators unknowingly opening your district to attack?
Everyone has heard about the cyber attack on casino giants MGM and Caesars Entertainment in September 2023. It is alleged that the attack on MGM was done via a phone scam that a hacker pulled on a help desk employee.

CISA Step 5 -Develop and Exercise a Cyber Incident Response Plan
Today we continue with our series discussing the highest priority cybersecurity steps as identified in the January 2023 CISA published report “Partnering to SafeGuard K-12 Organizations from Cybersecurity Threats.

Tech Tidbit – Adobe Flash is dead! I say again, Adobe Flash is dead!
Reality Check – Adobe FLASH IS DEAD! THERE SHOULD BE NO FLASH IN YOUR NETWORK! As I start seeing more and more of these vulnerability scans from districts as we prepare for our upcoming new service offering which includes vulnerability scans, I have been dumbfounded that I have seen what is purported to be Adobe […]

CISA Step 4 – Minimize Exposure to Common Attacks
Today we continue with our series discussing the highest priority cybersecurity steps as identified in the January 2023 CISA published report “Partnering to SafeGuard K-12 Organizations from Cybersecurity Threats.

CISA Step 3 – Perform and Test Backups
Today we continue with our series discussing the highest priority cybersecurity steps as identified in the January 2023 CISA published report “Partnering to SafeGuard K-12 Organizations from Cybersecurity Threats.

Tech Tidbit – Security Fundamentals with your Endpoints
I am not a basketball person, but it is said that the late Kobe Bryant had one of the best work ethics in all of sports spending endless time practicing the fundamentals of the game that he learned in his youth. As we start this new year, we need to get back to some basic […]

Boots on the Ground
On any team, there is someone who has the vision and sets goals, and there is someone on the ground who makes sure those things happen. No team can be successful if the person responsible for getting things done is not working towards the same goal as the person at the top.

Important Information from the Jan 2023 Release of CISA K-12 Cybersecurity Toolkit
We have been talking a lot in these bulletins about the increase in Cybersecurity incidents and what can be done to mitigate that risk. Congress also recognized this heightened risk environment and enacted the K–12 Cybersecurity Act of 2021 (“The Act”), which required the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to report on cybersecurity risks […]

Tech Tidbit – The dizzying pace of CVEs for browsers and other installed software
I am sitting here at 6 a.m. doing the morning review of all our Paladin Sentinel Monitoring school districts. The storm came overnight and there were lots of noisy UPSes, but thankfully it was a pretty boring morning.