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Cloudy. Temps nearly steady in the mid to upper 30s. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..
Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 33F. Winds E at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Updated: January 18, 2023 @ 5:58 am
Lake Fenton — School districts have become the number one target for ransomware and cyber security threats.
That’s what Brad Reichert, executive director of technology and district services at Lake Fenton Community Schools, told the Lake Fenton Board of Education during the Monday, Jan. 9 meeting.
“Hillsdale and Jackson County, just before Christmas, lost three days of school. Both counties were entirely down for three days because of ransomware attacks,” he said.
These attacks impacted 22 school districts from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16, 2022. Ransomware is “a type of malicious attack where attackers encrypt an organization’s data and demand payment to restore access,” according to the Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC).
Lake Fenton has also experienced a small scale ransomware attack five years ago in which the attackers locked job description and other files.
“We had somebody click on something in an email and all the files they had access to were locked. Unfortunately, they were not proud of what had happened, so they didn’t share it. By the time they did and I realized it, our backups didn’t go back far enough.”
Reichert is working to ensure this doesn’t happen again at Lake Fenton. Superintendent Julie Williams said Reichert has been at the forefront of making sure that the district’s systems are protected.
Ransomware attacks impact school districts in numerous ways, including lost days of school, lost data, hours of restoration and recreation, insurance costs, contractor costs and public relations concerns.
“Once you’ve been a victim, you’re known to be a victim and they’re going to come get you again and again until you fix your problems. So that’s a real scary one,” he said.
The school has implemented numerous safety precautions to prevent these attacks. One precaution is using multi-factor authentication (MFA), which requires users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to a system. Often these systems will require a username and password as well as a pin from a phone app.
“That is the single most important thing that we do to make sure that our information is secure,” he said. Lake Fenton has MFA in place for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Schools Open system to budget and payroll information, and other system administration tools.
The Genesee Intermediate School District actively monitors and manages a firewall that protects the county network, and Lake Fenton also regularly runs security scans.
“At some point, we’re going to be a victim. Everyone is going to be a victim at some point. So what are we doing? We’re doing every backup under the sun that we possibly can,” Reichert said.
The district does multiple backups for their systems and uses SentinelOne Endpoint Protection on all servers and Windows desktops.
“Phishing is the number one way that we’re being attacked,” Reichert said.
The CRSC defines phishing as “A technique for attempting to acquire sensitive data, such as bank account numbers, through a fraudulent solicitation in email or on a website, in which the perpetrator masquerades as a legitimate business or reputable person.”
Lake Fenton staff receive training on how to spot these fraudulent emails that ask them for sensitive information.
“Once a month, we do a phishing test so we send everybody an email that looks like a bad email. If people click on it, they get enrolled in the training,” he said. “We also have a tool that lets people report emails as potential phishing.”
On Monday, Jan. 16, they will have Michigan State Police come in and do a presentation on cyber security threats for the staff.
“We’re all going to be a victim at some point,” he said, adding that they’re working on a plan for when this happens.
Williams said insurance companies are adamant that people don’t engage with phishing emails.
One common phishing email she sees are scammers claiming they’re from the UPS and that a package has been delivered or is being delivered.
“I’m getting them daily here at school, but then also on my personal email at home,” she said.
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