Cybersecurity

Amid a nationwide rise in cybersecurity crimes over the past year, Joplin Schools, city officials and other public agencies are buying insurance and training staff on best practices to fend off cyber attacks.

After learning of a cybersecurity incident in June, Massena Central School District in New York was able to preserve some data by disabling access to its system. District officials are still assessing the damage.

With a red-hot job market and great career prospects, more and more people want to know what they have to do to get a cybersecurity job — or better yet a career.

The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation is aggressively expanding its CyberStart game intiatives to entice undiscovered talent toward cybersecurity positions and address top-tier skill gaps.

A statement from officials at Joplin, Mo., City Hall said that the systems affected had been isolated and the incident reported to law enforcement. City officials also consulted a cybersecurity firm.

U.S. federal agencies are following up on a cyber attack against the Republican Party. The GOP has said that the hackers did not access any data, and details about who is responsible are murky.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology broke with tradition to define critical software based on what it does, not how it’s used by agencies. The vendor community should take notes.

The Detroit-area school district’s access to phone systems and software tools has been restored following a ransomware attack June 10. Officials last week were unable to say whether data had been impacted.

A previously unknown flaw in IT management code was exploited to push ransomware around the world to servers that used the software and were connected to the Internet, according to researchers.

Guy Perelmuter offers an insightful, easy to read, helpful guide to present and future technology in business areas ranging from the future of jobs to AI and from cryptocurrencies to quantum computing.    

Although the details surrounding a recent cyber attack against St. Clair County, Wis., remain foggy, officials approved a policy that adds multi-factor authentication and new password standards across the county.

Detroit CIO Beth Niblock is headed to Washington, D.C., to serve as CIO for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her successor will be Art Thompson, the city’s public safety IT and cyber security director.

The Yuba County, Calif., Board of Supervisors recently approved agreements with three different information technology companies to improve the county's IT security after a ransomware incident in February.

Pulaski County officials have selected the Verity system, made by Hart InterCivic, which will include 25 scanners to handle paper ballots and 15 DUO standalone machines which are handicap-accessible.

The Enhancing K-12 Cybersecurity Act hopes to bolster funding for school cybersecurity, as well as federal data tracking of cyber crimes amid an increase in ransomware and phishing incidents in schools.

Concordia and Dominican universities in River Forest, Ill. will teach a four-course program for post-baccalaureate students on both the technical and social issues that surround cybersecurity.

With a $5.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, the city of Refuge will offer free training in cybersecurity and web development to 280 high school graduates from high-poverty areas over the next four years.

The University of Southern Mississippi and the nonprofit Mississippi Coding Academies have partnered to set up tuition-free training programs in coding and cybersecurity in downtown Biloxi, Miss.