K–12 Cybersecurity Act Signed into Law

guest · Oct 9, 2021

K–12 Cybersecurity Act Signed into Law
October 8, 2021
https://thejournal.com/articles/2021/10/08/k12-cybersecurity-act-signed-into-law.aspx

On Friday, Oct. 8, President Biden signed the K–12 Cybersecurity Act of 2021 into law. The act comes in response to growing data security incidents impacting K–12 schools in recent years, including a dramatic rise in ransomware and other forms of malware.

On its own, the legislation is fairly simple: It authorizes the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to conduct a study within 120 days of the specific risks impacting K–12 institutions. Following that, the director will develop, within 60 days, recommendations for cybersecurity guidelines for K–12 schools, based on the results of the study. And following that, within 120 days, will create an online training toolkit for "officials" at K–12 schools.

"In parallel with the rise of technology use in schools and classrooms, the cybersecurity challenges facing school districts are growing both more frequent and significant. The passage of the K-12 Cybersecurity Act of 2021 underscores the magnitude of these challenges and the importance of marshaling federal resources to address them," Levin told THE Journal.
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Levin also expressed hope that, while much work has already been done in K–12, this study will dig deeper into systemic issues in K–12 data security.

The findings of the study, the recommendations resulting from it and the online toolkit are all to be made available through the Department of Homeland Security's website.

Said Levin: "It is our hope that the forthcoming study and recommendations from CISA help lay the foundation for more robust K–12-specific cybersecurity legislation in future sessions of Congress."
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guest · Oct 9, 2021

Biden approves CISA study of K-12 cybersecurity
October 8, 2021
https://statescoop.com/k12-cybersecurity-study-cisa/

The Department of Homeland Security’s cyber agency will spend the next several months researching the risks and vulnerabilities of K-12 school districts as the education sector continues to face an onslaught of ransomware attacks, following President Joe Biden’s signing Friday of a bill aimed at shoring up school cybersecurity.

The K-12 Cybersecurity Act directs the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to undertake a 120-day review of the cybersecurity risks faced by school districts and report back to Congress. According to the text of the legislation, CISA will examine “how identified cybersecurity risks specifically impact K–12 educational institutions” and evaluate the challenges schools face in securing their information systems, protecting student and teacher data and implementing and enforcing cybersecurity controls.

“As malicious cybercriminals continue to target the network of K-12 schools across the nation, the federal government needs to provide them with the resources needed to protect themselves from hackers,” Senate Homeland Security Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., said in a press release.
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