Cyber Security

August 15, 2023

AESA was pleased to participate in the White House summit on K12 cyber security last week. The event was a kick-off for a series of federal support and action for K12 schools. The event featured Dr. Jill Biden, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in
hosting school administrators, educators, and private sector companies in the timely and important discussion. The event included announcements of action and resources to strengthen cybersecurity for K12 schools.

Last month, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the third leg of her Learn without Limits initiative and will be proposing a 3-year, $200 million pilot to strengthen cyber defenses in K-12 schools and libraries in tandem with other federal agencies that have deep expertise in cybersecurity.

USED will establish a Government Coordinating Council (GCC) to coordinate activities, policy, and communications between, and amongst, federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial education leaders to strengthen the cyber defenses and resilience of K-12 schools (AESA has been in contact with USED about the GCC already).

USED and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) released the K-12 Digital Infrastructure Brief: Defensible & Resilient, the second in a series of guidance documents to assist educational leaders in building and sustaining core digital infrastructure for learning.  Additional briefs released by the U.S. Department of Education include Adequate and Future- Proof and Privacy Enhancing, Interoperable, and Useful.

CISA will provide tailored assessments, facilitate exercises, and deliver cyber training for 300 K12 entities over the 2023-24 school year; and

The FBI and National Guard Bureau will release resource guides to ensure state government and educational officials know how to report cyber incidents.

You can read the official White House summary here.

Resources:

K12 Digital Infrastructure Brief: Defensible & Resilient

K12 Digital Infrastructure Brief: Adequate and Future-Proof 

K12 Digital Infrastructure Brief: Privacy Enhancing, Interoperable, and Useful