Confusion. Chaos. And another school hack.
Hackers have once again exploited the chaos of the Pandemic, leaving administrators confused and students vulnerable.
When online learning failed on the first day of school, Toledo Public Schools suggested they may have been hacked. But that was both before and after they said they weren't exactly sure...
That was in September, on the first day of school. Fast forward a month, and the story keeps evolving.
Rather than attribute this to hiding the truth, we like to put ourselves in the shoes of those administrators. And imagine being in that position - first day of school, everyone transitioning to online and hybrid learning and any number of things can go wrong.
The failure of online learning tools on the first day of class was indeed part of a ransomware attack that subsequently culminated in the online dissemination of student and employee information.
In this case, the students and faculty are victims. Again.
Unfortunately, schools have become focused targets for hackers.
Let's think about why:
Schools have tons of sensitive data. They have to be connected all the time (especially with online learning). There's ten times the normal chaos with Pandemic concerns.
Hackers obtained from TPS sensitive information — including student dates of birth and Social Security numbers, as well as staff addresses.
Sadly, means hackers are getting into school networks more often. And once in, the data they steal is tremendously valuable. That often forces schools to pay hefty ransom demands.
School faculty and administrators are already over-worked. When you add in a Pandemic and the transition to online learning, it's simply overwhelming.
The good news is that