Cyberattack mitigation in education requires more preparation

More prevalent cybersecuirty threats against K-12 schools have increased calls for the adoption of greater transparency and better incident response plans, GCN reports. Few schools have developed incident response plans that consider cybersecurity incidents, said K12 Security Information eXchange co-founder and National Director Doug Levin at GovExec's Cybersmart TV segment on Thursday. Such plans should emphasize proper communication of cyber incidents with stakeholders and prioritize transparency, according to Levin, who noted that more fortright school districts have secured parents' and teachers' trust by being more open about significant intrusions. "Not only did these school districts not lose the faith of their community, they probably increased it. But again, it's really all about having that plan in place in advance. If a school district does not have that plan when an incident occurs, we've really seen them struggle to get a handle on the incident and also communicate about it to their school community," Levin said.