Cybersecurity

Experts say uncertainties over stolen data will persist well into the future, not only for the district but for those employees and student families whose personal information was published on the dark web.

As NASCIO gets under way in Louisville, Ky., GT talked to Arizona CISO Tim Roemer about what it means to serve jointly as the state’s top official for cybersecurity and homeland security.

The Monday outage did not affect airport operations, according to airport officials. A handful of U.S. airport websites were also down early Monday morning, including Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and several others.

The state plans to open cyber ranges and security operations centers at state colleges and universities. Students would get hands-on training and a career start, while the operations would provide localities with cyber analysis.

Guidance from the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is that paying ransomware demands is a mistake that doesn’t guarantee resolution, but districts in a bind have many variables to consider.

A program shared between six community colleges and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania will focus on mentorship, certificate training, K-12 outreach, summer activities, course material and professional development.

Cybersecurity professionals can learn from teachers, writers, actors and others who have learned how to tell stories in impactful ways. It's a good lesson to keep in mind for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

The university has announced three initiatives — a cybersecurity scholarship program, a series of related events and resources, and a grant program for Atlanta-area nonprofits — aimed at building an IT workforce.

After more than a decade and a half of service with the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, CISO Erik Avakian announced his forthcoming departure to pursue an opportunity in the private sector.

The city's Information Technology Department is collaborating with KnowBe4, an Internet security awareness training platform, to offer Aurora residents a series of  free home Internet security lessons.

Colorado restored its state web portal home page and is working with state and federal partners to investigate the incident. Other sources have named pro-Russian hackers, Killnet, as the perpetrators.

The public community college in California shut down its servers Sunday morning after detecting suspicious activity on its network, which it continues to investigate while slowly bringing the network back online.

The city’s website has been displaying a series of unusual posts to its blog page for mail-order brides, exam papers and online gambling in recent weeks. The posts have appeared at least 29 times since Sept. 13.

Several state webpages were intermittently unavailable yesterday, and colorado.gov remains down. Killnet, a politically motivated, pro-Russia hacking group, has claimed credit for the disruptions.

In the wake of news that hackers released a trove of personal identifying information stolen from Los Angeles Unified School District, victims are advised to call the district's hotline and set up credit monitoring.

Other state government services and websites across the United States were reportedly targeted by the cyber attacker as well. The state launched a temporary homepage to replace the downed site.

CorrectHealth, a company focused on providing health-care services in correctional facilities, was breached in late August. The incident exposed the personal information of an estimated 54,000 inmates.

Former Howard County CISO John Bruns will serve as the new director of state cybersecurity, and emergency management specialist Netta Squires will take up the post of the director of local cybersecurity.