A Cyber-Security Update

We are learning about several cyber-attacks on school districts, school district employees and a number of other high-profile cases.  Here are some of those updates.

School District Attack:  There was another Louisiana school system that was attacked.  It was a ransomware attack where the perpetrators held the school’s data ransom for a payment in Bitcoin.  Details on how the data was accessed has not been released. Past attacks have been in the form of phishing emails where school employees are duped into providing information that provides a doorway into the school districts system.  This case is being referred to as a “scorched earth” scenario.  Since they cannot trust that the system is not compromised, they will have to rebuild the entire network.

Unemployment Fraud:  We hear, on a daily basis, that many Arkansas school district employees have fallen victim to identity theft associated to unemployment fraud.  Unemployment has become a big target due to the high number of Americans who have filed claims due to Covid-19.  As a reminder, The AAEA has partnered with Educational Benefits (EBi) to offer a robust identity theft product (ProtectEd) that will take on pre-existing cases.  We’ve set up a new enrollment system that doesn’t require your district to utilize a payroll slot for deductions.  Contact EBi today to learn more: (844) 559-3521

Zoom Hack:  For most of the school districts across Arkansas, Zoom has become the new norm for communication.  Cybersecurity agency Cyble has recently discovered cybercriminals selling over 500,000 stolen Zoom credentials in hacker forums. Stolen information included:  Zoom user passwords, personal meeting room URLs, and meeting host ID numbers.  Make sure your employees are creating new, unique passwords for each online account. 

Stay vigilant and be sure to educate your employees on cyber security!