Report advises steps to protect K-12 schools from cyber threats

The U.S. Department of Education should take additional steps to help protect K-12 schools from cyber threats, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Friday.

The report said pandemic-related school closures have increased schools’ dependence on information technology, which in turn has increased their vulnerability to serious cyberattacks.

“These threat actors may be motivated by the promise of monetary gain from malware attacks, by the desire to steal data, or simply to cause disruption of K-12 classes,” the report said.

The report recommends the Secretary of Education initiate a meeting with the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to determine how to update its sector-specific plan for the education sector.

A related recommendation is that the Secretary of Education determine in consultation with CISA’s director whether subsector-specific guidance is needed.

The Department of Education concurs with the recommendations, the report said.