Colorado Association of Leaders in Educational Technology (CALET)
- One of the most helpful resources identified at the K-12 Cybersecurity Focus Group meeting was CALET - the Colorado Association of Leaders in Educational Technology. This working group is sponsored by CASE and any school IT professionals are welcome and encouraged to join. The purpose of the Colorado Association of Leaders in Educational Technology (CALET) is:
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To provide professional development opportunities that enhance the growth of educational technologists as educational leaders.
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To influence decision-making concerning educational technology, including policy and funding, at local, state and national levels.
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To share knowledge of technology and its application in education to other educational leaders.
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Cybersecurity and Cyber Safety Considerations for K-12 Schools and School Districts
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Cyber threats can impact either the human (students, teachers, and staff) or the physical or virtual (e.g., information technology [IT] networks and systems) elements of schools and school districts. While there may be some overlap in addressing human versus physical/virtual threats, preparing for each type can require input from different individuals with experience or expertise on that topic and unique actions before, during, and after an incident. Schools may therefore choose to plan for these threats separately, but still under a broader umbrella of cyber threats.
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To support education agencies with the development of a cybersecurity annex, the REMS TA Center has created resources on this topic. They have researched how cyber incidents affect education agencies and steps they can take to result, resulting in fact sheet sheets. These fact sheets (below) focuses on addressing threats to a school's or school district's network and systems also called cybersecurity considerations and people in the school community - also called cyber safety considerations.
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Cybersecurity Considerations for K-12 Schools and School Districts
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Cybersecurity Fact Sheet (PDF 221 KB)
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Schools (public and nonpublic) and school districts face a myriad of challenging hazards and threats.1 In addition to natural hazards, technological hazards, and biological hazards, they now have to prepare for human-caused cyber threats. These incidents can be accidental or deliberate and disrupt education and critical operations, expose sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) of students, teachers, and staff, and lead to high recovery costs.
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Cyber Safety Quick Links for Protecting Youth: Empowering Students to Become Responsible Digital Citizens and Engage Online Safely
- This Technical Assistance (TA) Snapshot provides key preparedness and response considerations for COVID-19 and gives school safety teams, families, and students key practical steps and quick links to Websites offering cyber safety resources, tools, and training. Together, communities, led by school safety teams, can enhance their cyber safety knowledge and capabilities of the whole school community by using this New TA Snapshot.
Cybersecurity Recommendations for K-12 Schools Using Video Conferencing Tools and Online Platforms (CISA)
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K-12 school districts are increasingly incorporating distance-learning tools as a means of delivering curricula. Advances in information technology as the increased availability of video conferencing software and video conferencing capabilities incorporated into other products have rapidly made distance learning more feasible. However, schools and school districts must balance the convenience, usability, speed, and stability of these platforms with increasing risks to both school IT networks and individual users.
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This videoconferencing product is for school district and campus IT administrators and staff charged with securing their IT networks, as well as end users such as teachers to help them think through cybersecurity issues.
Cyber Safety Video Tip Card
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Video calls are abundant with opportunities to compromise your private information. Follow these tips to help form safe video call practices to protect yourself from slip-ups or malicious acts from others.
Cyber Safety Video
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The team at CYBER.ORG and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) partnered to produce this Cyber Safety Series. In this new world of video calls, it’s more important than ever that we use good cyber safety practices during every meeting we attend. Here are a few simple rules to follow when participating in a video call to ensure you stay safe and keep all your private information…well private.
Dear School Safety Partner: Cybersecurity and Cyber Safety
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In this TA Snapshot, the REMS TA Center describes cybersecurity for schools and steps education agencies can take, with the collaboration of parents, to protect student privacy while increasing the use of digital learning and video-sharing platforms in response to COVID-19. School safety teams can learn about threats facing school and school district networks and systems, as well as REMS TA Center resources in the context of cyber threats in the school setting, in this New TA Snapshot.
FBI
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Ransomware on the Rise FBI Protect Yourself and Your Organization
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Ransomware is a type of malware that infects computers, networks, and servers using encryption to make files unreadable.
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Ransomware doesn't just impact home computers. Businesses, financial institutions, government agencies, academic institutions, and other organizations can and have become infected with it as well, resulting in the loss of sensitive or proprietary information, a disruption to regular operations, financial losses incurred to restore systems and files, and/or potential harm to an organization's reputation. Source FBI ransomware on the rise.
Ransomware has been around for several years, but there's been a definite uptick lately in its use by cyber criminals. And the FBI, along with public and private sector partners, is targeting these offenders and their scams.
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The Parent's Guide to Smartphone Security
- Keeping your child safe online is a modern problem that many parents face today. After all, technology is moving faster than many people can keep up with. If you have a child, then you are well aware of the new devices that are becoming integrated in a child's life. So, how do you, as a parent, ensure that your child is safe and secure when using a smartphone? Other than banning your children from using mobile devices, there is no way to completely remove this risk. Read more...(PDF 221 KB)
Ransomware Resources by Topic
US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation
NEW - - Stop Ransomware
- Ransomware is an ever-evolving form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption. These resources are designed to help individuals and organizations prevent attacks that can severely impact business processes and leave organizations without the data they need to operate and deliver mission-critical services.
NEW - - SchoolSatefy.Gov
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- SchoolSafety.gov offers resources, programs, and tools school communities can use to prevent, respond to, and if needed, recover from cybersecurity threats and cyberattacks.
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