The 2021 Back-to-School Guide for Your Security & Sanity

In many households, back-to-school looks chaotic this year (i.e. planning for a hybrid-learning approach, re-learning old routines for in-person schooling or strategizing how to combat burn-out for another remote-learning school year).  Students aren’t the only ones preparing for the back-to-school rush. Hackers are taking advantage of this time to capitalize off of school districts due to factors such as remote-learning, poor cybersecurity posture and the need for schools to be up and running.

Cybercriminals have been targeting schools and students since 2016,  including a recent attack on Judson ISD in San Antonio, Texas.  Judson ISD paid over $500k to an unknown ransom group to avoid thousands of students’ and teachers’ personal information from being released. Cindy Sexton, President of Teachers Association of Baltimore County, comments on the recent Judson ISD attack and “wouldn’t wish ransomware on anyone” after Baltimore County suffered from an attack last November, resulting in nearly $8 Million in losses.

With K-12 students spending more time online than ever before, attacks specifically targeting kids are expected to increase dramatically.  Here are 7 tips to ensure safety and sanity while attending school online.

1. Educate your child on phishing scams

In-person, you teach your children not to talk to, get into cars with or accept candy from strangers. Online, you need to teach them not to click on links or file attachments sent to them by strangers, as well as not to respond to messages requesting login credentials or other personal information.

3. Protect your child’s passwords

• Using strong, unique passwords for all of their online accounts
• Never sharing their passwords with other people
• Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) on every site that supports it

5. Improve your Wi-Fi

Make sure your router is visible. Don’t hide it behind obstructions. If it is locked away in a dark corner of the home, consider relocating it somewhere more central.

Things that can affect your Wi-Fi signal:

• Physical obstructions: You may like hiding your router but placing it behind a large object can cloud your signal.  Even construction materials like concrete within your walls can block a Wi-Fi signal.
• Radios and baby monitors: They may be interfering with your Wi-Fi signal because they tend to be on the same frequency band as the Wi-Fi.
• Water: If the Wi-Fi signal must pass through an aquarium the signal may be weaker.

7. Check your email for important cybersecurity messages from your child’s school

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