Cybersecurity and Digital Safety

IT Director answering her phone: "Hello, Yvonne here. How can I help you?"

Finance Assistant: "Yvonne! My computer's got something wrong with it. Everything's frozen and I can't access QuickBooks. And there's a message on my screen saying it's been hacked. What do I do?"

This scenario is a lot more common than you think. Ransomware attacks strike large organizations and small ones. While you wouldn't think private schools would be vulnerable to such attacks, they are just as exposed as a Fortune 500 company. Although I have earned IT certifications over the years, you and I are going to listen to what the experts in the IT security field have to say about ransomware, and, most importantly, how to protect your school from these unwelcome attacks.

What is ransomware?

The United States Government's Stop Ransomware website defines ransomware as follows: "Ransomware is a form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption."

This video explains ransomware.

"It couldn't happen in my school."

Why should your private school be concerned about ransomware? After all, your school is such a small organization. Why would anybody attack our school? Another security expert tells you why.

cWatch explains why hackers do what they do: "Some common reasons for hacking include basic

Years ago, I ran a small private school with 110 students in grades 9-11. I know how many demands consume a busy administrator's attention and time. I also know firsthand how difficult it is to get the owner of a private school to spend money on even the most critical items. With that in mind, I offer the following talking points for the small private school owner and her board of trustees.

How exposed is your school?

When I asked the question, which is the title of this article, I had in mind your exposure on three fronts:

• Legal
• IT Infrastructure
• Public relations

IT Infrastructure

I will not scare you off with a lot of tech-speak regarding your IT infrastructure. But I highly recommend hiring an IT expert to review your school's IT infrastructure and make recommendations. By recommending this approach, I am a practical business person. Let's say your IT backend crashes, and you lose all your student and business data. And you have no resumption of a business plan or data backups in place. You will have a tough time making an insurance claim and getting your school back up and running.

An impartial IT consultant will confirm that your technology infrastructure has kept up with the times. Sadly, many organizations are still running Windows XP, for which support ended in 2014. Those Windows XP computers are easy targets for hackers.

You cannot

Bullying has been part of our human existence since time began. While bullying goes by different names and takes several different forms, whether you call it intimidation or threatening, whether you do it verbally or with your body language, bullying is upsetting and unnerving behavior. Fortunately for us parents, it is completely unacceptable in most private schools, as it should be everywhere else. Most private school discipline codes have strict policies concerning bullying. Be aware that these policies are enforced quickly because students are governed by contract law. In other words, the contract which you signed with the school spells out very clearly the consequences of any infractions of the school's discipline code. Those consequences, such as suspension or expulsion, will happen swiftly.

Naturally, like just about anything else you can think of, bullying has gone electronic. If you thought that bullying was hard to detect in its analog forms, you could imagine how much more difficult electronic or cyberbullying, as it is now called, is to detect. So, where does cyberbullying fit in? As I noted, cyberbullying or bullying done electronically is extremely difficult for us adults to detect. The reason why is that cyberbullying lurks in the virtual shadows created by social media and smartphones. Unless you are following somebody and can monitor their various social media accounts or have access to their mobile device, you cannot definitively prove that cyberbullying is actually occurring. I used the term social media, which used

Most private schools have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) in place governing the use of technology. That means that students in private schools must follow their school's guidelines and directives when using personal technology. Personal technology includes laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones. What perplexes many mature teachers is that none of these devices were commonly used years ago. The reality is that young people have some or all of these devices and use them naturally, freely, and without much thought. Using technology is second nature to students these days.

As a rule, there are limits on these devices and their use in private schools. Let's look at five things you are not supposed to do with personal technology. Breaking the rules in your school could land you in a heap of trouble, including expulsion. Review her school's personal technology use policy if you are a parent. Then discuss the policy with your child. Help her understand the rules, the limits, and why the school has a technology policy. Remind her further that she has no rights in a private school. So if the school disciplines her for an infraction, there is little or no recourse. That is because private school students are covered by contract law. The rights and privileges are spelled out in the contract you signed with the school. She does not have constitutional rights per se. The contract is a legal, binding document.

Here are five things you must not do