Tag Archive for: Teachers

Missouri offers credit monitoring to teachers affected by DESE data vulnerability 


  

Missouri is offering 12 months of free credit and identity theft monitoring to educators whose personal information could be at risk due to a vulnerability in a state website discovered last month

At least three teachers’ Social Security numbers became vulnerable last month after data was accessed on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)’s website — which compiles teacher information that can be accessed by local school districts when verifying an educator’s certification. The last four digits of a person’s Social Security number can be used to identify an educator. 

No misuse of information nor access to information outside of last month’s incident has been reported, according to DESE, but the option will be extended to approximately 620,000 current and former teachers whose data was included on the department’s website. 

The services are expected to cost the state $800,000.  

DESE and the Office of Administration Technology Services Division (OA-ITSD) will notify teachers whose information may have been at risk in the coming days.

“Educators have enough on their plates right now, and I want to apologize to them for this incident and the additional inconvenience it may cause them,” DESE Commissioner Margie Vandeven said. “It is unacceptable. The security of the data we collect is of the utmost importance to our agency. Rest assured that we are working closely with OA-ITSD to resolve this situation.”

Gov. Mike Parson said the information was accessed through a “multistep process” that decoded and converted the data. The Cole County prosecutor was notified, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Digital Forensic Unit will conduct an investigation “of all of those involved.” 

In a story, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said one of its employees had “discovered the vulnerability in a web application” and notified DESE. 

“The reporter did the responsible thing by reporting his findings to DESE so that the state could act to prevent disclosure and misuse. A hacker is someone who subverts computer security with malicious or criminal intent. Here, there was no breach of any firewall or security and certainly no…

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NCSC offers teachers free cyber security training


The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has released a free cyber security training package for teachers and other school staff, setting out steps to take to help mitigate cyber attacks and drawing on real-life case studies to demonstrate the impact of such incidents.

The resources are the newest addition to a widening package of support measures offered up by the NCSC as schools and universities across the UK reel from a spate of cyber attacks, which began to surge as Covid-19 lockdowns forced the education sector to transition to remote learning, and have not let up even with the return of face-to-face teaching.

Sarah Lyons, NCSC deputy director for economy and society engagement, said: “It’s absolutely vital for schools and their staff to understand their cyber risks and how to better protect themselves online. That’s why we’ve created an accessible, free training package offering practical steps on cyber security to help busy professionals boost their defences.

“By familiarising themselves with this resource, staff can help reduce the chances of children’s vital education being disrupted by cyber criminals,” she said.

Schools minister Nick Gibb added: “It is vital that schools have robust cyber security in place, and these new resources and training will help staff to increase protection from attacks.

“This training will boost support for schools, giving teachers the tools and skills they need to identify possible risks. I would strongly encourage all schools to adopt the resources and all staff to complete the training to make sure data is protected.”

The training package is designed to be accessible by any staff member, regardless of role or level of technical knowledge, and also comes as a scripted presentation. It can be accessed via the NCSC’s website and shines a light on the most dangerous threats schools face, and outlines the impact successful cyber attacks can have.

One of the case studies highlights an incident in which a successful voice phishing – or vishing – attack in which cyber criminals impersonated the Department for Education (DfE) to obtain the email details of the target’s head of finance and headteacher. This…

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PetrSU teachers in the jury of the student conference “First frontier” – India Education,Education News India,Education News




The works of the participants were evaluated by a jury, which included an associate professor of the Department of Technology and Organization of Construction of the Institute of Forest, Mining and Construction Sciences.
Lecturer at the Institute of Forestry, Mining and Construction Sciences Yu.V. Nikonova took part in the jury of the scientific-practical conference of students “The First Frontier” on the basis of the Petrozavodsk Presidential Cadet School.

Individual projects of students were defended at various sections of the conference. At the section “Exact Sciences and Engineering Sciences (Applied and Fundamental Mathematics, Physics and Applied Mechanics, Information Cybernetic Systems and Computer Modeling, Informatics, Computing Machinery and Computer Security”, the work of the participants was evaluated by a jury, which included an associate professor of the Department of Technology and Organization of Construction Yu.V. Nikonova.

Schoolchildren presented more than 10 reports to the jury. The topics of the reports were topical, many works are of practical importance. Some guys presented experimental models to demonstrate their research. All studies were well developed, but the reports “Paper airplane”, “Catalog of educational videos” Physics of flight “,” Robotic reconnaissance system “ESH-1”, “Creation and testing of hydrophobic impregnations”, “Automated linguistic simulator” aroused special interest.


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Peel District School Board struggles with fallout from malware attack, leaving parents, teachers in the dark


The Peel District School Board is still unable to say when several of its key online resources will be back on track after they were hit by a malware attack that continues to paralyze a string of databases.

Last week, the board told staff in an email, the malware “resulted in the encryption of certain PDSB files and systems,” and after it was discovered, the board “took immediate steps to isolate the incident.”

The risk posed by unknown hackers is creating unease among the unions representing elementary and secondary school teachers, who claim they have been kept in the dark, and received just the most sparing details about the type and scope of attack more than a week since the board first admitted it was facing a “cyber security incident.”

Speaking to the Star Thursday, board spokesperson Tiffany Gooch said a cybersecurity firm, hired by the board has made significant progress in both the investigation and recovery efforts, but couldn’t say exactly when the systems would be back to normal.

“We hope to be able to provide a resolution timeline in the next few days,” said Gooch.

“We can confirm that the incident involved encryption malware.”

Gooch wouldn’t say if the hackers have attempted to extort the board by seeking payment to unlock the seized data portals, but she did say there is “no evidence that any personally identifiable or otherwise sensitive data was compromised because of the attack.”

Gooch was unable to say how the incident occurred and who might be responsible. These are things she says she hopes the continuing probe will reveal.

Of equal concern to the union is that the board faces this logistic hurdle in the days leading up to students’ anticipated return to the classroom for in-person learning the week of Feb. 16.

Representatives from both unions say the board has provided links for back-channel access, so some tasks can be completed.

The board remains partially locked out of the intranet used by staff because some functions cannot be accessed.

She said the malware has not affected virtual classrooms, but it did wipe out the website and with it applications accessed by families.

As a result, the board extended deadlines for Grade 1 French…

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