White House holds first-ever summit on the ransomware crisis plaguing the nation's public schools
abcnews.go.comThe White House held its first-ever cybersecurity “summit” on the ransomware attacks plaguing U.S. schools
The White House on Tuesday held its first-ever cybersecurity “summit” on the ransomware attacks plaguing U.S. schools, in which criminal hackers have dumped online sensitive student data, including medical records, psychiatric evaluations and even sexual assault reports.
“If we want to safeguard our children’s futures we must protect their personal data,” first lady Jill Biden, who is a teacher, told the gathering. “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.”
At least 48 districts have been hit by ransomware attacks this year — already three more than in all of 2022, according to the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. All but 10 had data stolen, the firm reported. Typically, Russian-speaking foreign-based gangs steal the data — sometimes including the Social Security numbers and financial data of district staff — before activating network-encrypting malware then threaten to dump it online unless paid in cryptocurrency.
“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.
An October 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, found that more than 1.2 million students were affected in 2020 alone — with lost learning ranging from three days to three weeks. Nearly one in three U.S. districts had been breached by the end of 2021, according to a survey by the Center for
Read more on abcnews.go.com
