The White House conducted its first-ever cybersecurity "summit" on Tuesday to discuss the ransomware attacks that are affecting American schools and leaking students' private information online, including medical records, mental evaluations, and even allegations of sexual assault.
Jill Biden, the first lady, who is a teacher, told the gathering, “If we want to safeguard our children’s futures we must protect their personal data. Every student deserves the opportunity to see a school counselor when they’re struggling and not worry that these conversations will be shared with the world.”
Ransomware assaults have affected at least 48 districts this year, which is three more than all of 2022 combined, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. The firm said that all but 10 had had their data stolen. Foreign-based gangs steal the information before activating network-encrypting malware and threaten to publish it online unless cryptocurrency ransoms are paid. The information occasionally includes the Social Security numbers and financial information of district staff.
“Last school year, schools in Arizona, California, Washington, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Michigan were all victims of major cyber-attacks,” the deputy national security advisor for cyber, Anne Neuberger, told the summit.
More than 1.2 million students were impacted in 2020 alone, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, a government watchdog organization, with the loss of learning time ranging from three days to three weeks. The Centre for Internet Security, a government-funded charity, conducted a survey that found that by the end of 2021, about one in three U.S. districts had been compromised.
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