Cybersecurity

According to an article in The Hill, despite investing billions of dollars in cybersecurity, the US is woefully unprepared for attacks from foreign adversaries, especially in the private sector. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen states that companies, schools and other public entities are at a growing risk, "and until now our government has done far too little to back them up."

Student hackers are an increasing threat when it comes to infiltrating K-12 school networks, says John Mullen of SonicWall. In a recent article in EdTech online, he writes, “While external cybercriminals seek Social Security numbers and financial information using ransomware, student hackers commit inside jobs with the hope of changing grades, stealing passwords, infecting computers with malware, accessing or hijacking secure school or district websites or even posting inappropriate image”. He also shares several steps that schools can take to help protect their networks from student hackers, including compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act.

Children's data, including Social Security numbers, is increasingly being sold on the dark web, according to research from Terbium Labs, a Baltimore-based dark web data intelligence company. In her detailed commentary regarding the dark web market, researcher Emily Wilson points out that children's data can be used to commit fraud because most people are not checking their babies and children’s credit reports. Facebook has also been recently charged for their negligence with child data, including the use of a research app to spy on minors and turning a blind eye to so-called “friendly fraud”.

T.H.E. Journal reports that schools that allow students to access cellphones have lower rates of cyberbullying than those that ban the devices, according to data from the US Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. The survey also shows that there is an uptick in incidents of cyberbullying in schools since 2010.

Nearly once every three days, a US school district is victimized by a cyberattack (ransomware, phishing, denial of service and unauthorized disclosures or data breaches), states a report released recently by Doug Levin, president of EdTech Strategies and discussed in EdSurge . Levin predicts that such incidents could become more common, adding that they disrupt teaching and learning and cost districts as much as $100,000 to address. Levin predicts this will continue because “There’s no easy solution. It’s not just that we need more money, different policies or more training. The nature of these threats is going to keep changing. And if major companies—Equifax, Apple, Cisco, Facebook—can’t keep a handle on their stuff, what chance do little school districts have?”

Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, and even Twitter have one thing in common. They are all looking for users. Snapchat, once the darling of teens everywhere, lost 3 million daily active users in the second quarter of 2018. That’s the first time that the company has reported a decline since it went public. And what accounts for these losses? Security issues, charges of misinformation, foreign hacking and misuse of user data, all issues that teens sometimes seem to be more aware of then adults. And what does that mean for parents? Still unknown, but it may mean that teens will be changing “favorite” apps more quickly, so stay on your toes and keep your ears and eyes open for what’s next.

Most New Year’s resolutions focus on building better habits for fitness, career success, and even love. But what about better Internet practices? One thing you might try is the Keepsafe Browser. It allows you to browse the Internet without keeping record of your activity—a privacy feature that is attractive to many. Keepsafe’s private browser uses military-grade encryption to protect your web searches. To start, set a PIN or Face ID; the app cannot be accessed without that code. Browse in private mode, or switch into incognito mode’s secret browsers, which erase all of your browsing history after use. Not sold yet? Turn on Keepsafe’s tracker blockers to stop advertisers and social networks from collecting your data or browsing activity.

The use of artificial intelligence to monitor employees, and even students, is on its way, Larry Alton argues in InformationWeek. As companies streamline and automate surveillance services to prevent losses and increase productivity and schools increasingly worry more about security and bullying, added surveillance is sure to follow. Alton examines the consequences and discusses what you and your children should do to prepare.

In an effort to improve facial recognition technology -- and prevent wrongful identification based on built-in biases -- Microsoft is establishing a code of conduct for this technology and is asking other companies to join in. Microsoft President Brad Smith says in TechCrunch that having cohesive rules in place is the most responsible way to implement facial recognition technology. This Code of Conduct is in response to a test of facial recognition software systems run by the American Civil Liberties Union and other critics who found that, for example, the software incorrectly matched the photos of 28 US lawmakers with mug shots of convicted criminals.

Your phone is incredibly valuable to criminals and spies. Treat it accordingly. Don’t bother with a four-digit passcode, which is easy to guess. Six-digit passcodes are harder to guess. Eight-digit-passcodes are better. Need to change you password? Try How to Bypass and Reset the Password on Every Operating System for advice on how to change your password on most any device.