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By Dave Warner, Systems Engineer at Cenetric
It seems nowhere is safe from hackers these days, and K-12 schools are no exception. An 18-month study revealed that 82% of K-12 schools experienced a cyber incident during that period.
The biggest culprit? Something called malvertisements—online ads with hidden malware that executes when the user clicks on the ad. Sixty-three percent (63%) of the school incidents stemmed from malvertisements. It’s easy for a child to click on what looks like an ad for a cool game or a toy and end up with malware on their device — and the school’s network can easily follow.
These attacks can have far-reaching consequences, sometimes affecting all a school’s or district’s systems, from the way students pay for meals to electronic records for transcripts. And, if your child uses their school laptop or tablet on your network, your own devices — or your business’s — could be affected as well.
Proper network protection is a non-negotiable
Cyber criminals are getting craftier every day, and the best way to stay ahead of them is to keep your home and business networks up-to-date and secure.
For your business, a network assessment will examine your network for potential vulnerabilities and help you make a plan to close any gaps in security. An assessment will look at every device, system and server (on-premises or in the cloud) and determine if there are any ways malware could sneak in.
After a network assessment, you can plug the holes you discovered by updating policies and procedures and installing new security software. If you don’t already have disaster response and cybersecurity incident response plans in place, it’s time to get that taken care of.
Photo: iStock
Set clear policies and implement the right technologies
These situations are why it’s essential to have a Bring-Your-Own-Device policy for your business as well. Imagine a scenario where an employee brings their child to work and unknowingly lets them on your network with a malware-infected device.
Setting clear boundaries for guest access, like creating a strong guest-only Wi-Fi network or VPN access separate from the network your business operates on, will help protect your business from an attack. Governing guest access should be a part of your IT Acceptable Use Policy.
You should also consider endpoint detection and response (EDR) software, which looks for out-of-the-ordinary behavior on devices connected to your network. EDR software can stop attacks before they crawl across your network—especially zero-day attacks, in which a bad actor can attack vulnerabilities no one else has discovered yet.
Cenetric experts know how to keep your business network safe
If creating a strategy to protect your business’s systems and devices from attack isn’t in your skill set or your IT staff is busy with other tasks, the Cenetric team can help.
Our experts can examine your network for potential trouble spots and work with you or your IT staff to create a plan for tougher protection. Cenetric has the experience to get — and keep — you covered when it comes to cybersecurity. Let’s talk about your needs today.