News Insights: FBI warns of cyberattacks to distance learning

News Insights:

Irfahn Khimji, CISSP, Country Manager, Canada at Tripwire, commented, “Whenever there is an abrupt change in the dynamic of how something is functioning, the first priority is to get the service up and running.  Things like security take a back seat.  This is clearly evident in the way the dynamic of the schooling system moved from the traditional in person learning to distance learning.  Many of the students, teachers, and parents were introduced to new technologies that they previously were not familiar with.  IT support staff were faced with needing to quickly enable remote learning.  These factors combined to make schools a prime target for these types of attacks.  However, now that distance learning is becoming the new normal, it is imperative that schools take the time to educate the students, teachers, and parents on the types of attacks they could face and how to handle those situations.  Things like phishing attacks and domain spoofing often have tell signs that students and teachers should learn how to spot.  IT support staff should ensure that the systems are all configured securely and vulnerabilities are mitigated.”