Lawmakers Urged to Strengthen Cyber Defenses in Schools Amid Rising Threats

Lawmakers Urged to Strengthen Cyber Defenses in Schools Amid Rising Threats

Summary

Schools are frequent targets for cyberattacks. Nebraska lawmakers heard testimony in favor of stronger school cybersecurity, with calls for funding, staff training and coordination between state agencies, schools and security specialists.

Here is what the hearing covered.

Why schools need better defenses

Schools have become a common target for cyberattacks. Attacks expose student and staff data and can shut down classes for days.

A hearing in Nebraska put the issue in front of lawmakers. Security specialists, school administrators and state officials testified.

What witnesses asked for

Stronger rules and guidance

Witnesses broadly agreed that lawmakers should act to protect schools. Several urged a framework that would give districts clear guidelines and the resources to follow them.

Without that support, many schools remain easy targets.

Funding and staff

Money came up again and again. Schools need technology and trained people.

Witnesses also pointed to the gap between urban and rural districts, since a small rural school often has one IT person or none at all, and they asked for funding that reaches those districts too. Security keeps students safe.

Working together

State agencies and schools

Testimony stressed coordination. When agencies and schools share what they learn, every district gains.

One suggestion was a central statewide body to oversee school cybersecurity, so small districts are not left to work it out alone.

What to watch

Watch whether Nebraska lawmakers turn the testimony into a bill and, if so, whether it comes with money. Guidelines without funding change little for a district with no security staff.

Other states face the same problem. Nebraska’s response could become a model, or a warning.

Fred Templeton, CISA, CASP, SEC+

Fred Templeton is a practicing Information Systems Auditor in the Washington DC area. Fred works as a government contractor and uses his skills in cyber security to make our country's information systems safer from cyber threats. Fred holds a master's degree in cybersecurity and is currently working on his PHD in Information Systems.