The bad actors behind such attacks go after just about any sector, as a former FBI agent recently told The News. As Western New Yorkers have seen, that includes public school districts.
School districts should have access to the know-how and the funding to prevent cyber attacks and infection by ransomware. There may be several ways to make that happen, but it’s essential and Albany must play a prominent role. Smaller, rural districts need to be included, not just the larger urban ones like Buffalo.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is on board. In a recent editorial board meeting with The Buffalo News, she offered assurances that the state will assist school districts in fighting against cyber criminals. Legislators must also step up.
Ignoring the threat invites trouble. Cyber criminals view school districts as soft targets. Buffalo learned the lesson in painful fashion last year in a March ransomware attack. The district wisely refused to pay the money demanded, but as of October, it had spent nearly $10 million to respond to the attack, in addition to meeting the ongoing expense of strengthening the security of its computer network.
Nathaniel Kuzma, the district’s general counsel said the district alerted about 110,000 current and former teachers, other school employees, current and former students and vendors that their information may have been compromised in that attack. About 1,500 people took advantage of 12 months of free fraud monitoring services offered by a district cybersecurity consultant, although it remained unclear how much information was exposed or what data, if any, was lost and not recovered.
The FBI is investigating the attack, seeking to determine who is responsible and, critically, how the ransomware infiltrated the school’s computer system. In addition, Superintendent Kriner Cash approved an emergency contract with GreyCastle Security, a cybersecurity service that is helping in the investigation.
SUNY Erie Community College also suffered a malware attack in 2020, though no ransom was demanded. And it’s not just schools that are vulnerable. Erie County Medical Center also spent about $10 million after a ransomware attack in 2017. Like Buffalo Schools, it refused to pay any ransom.
There may be no foolproof protection against such nefarious criminals, but New York can do better. Albany needs to act.
©2022 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
