Today’s Superintendent faces unprecedented pressure to protect students, faculty, and staff from cyber and physical security threats. We asked IT veteran Paul Caputo, CIO of NATIONAL Business Technologies to share his insights on what Superintendents need to prioritize given his 30+ years of experience working with school districts in the areas of IT policy, cybersecurity, and instructional technologies.
1. Why Panic Alarms?
Paul Caputo, CIO of NATIONAL Business Technologies
In June of 2022, the Governor passed Alyssa’s Law which mandates that school districts have a panic alarm enabling a teacher or administrator to notify authorities in the case of an emergency. To satisfy this, some schools have turned to mobile apps but this has met resistance due to poor internet connections, faculty resisting a “work” app on their personal phone, and whether or not the teacher has their phone on them at all times. Alternatively, hard wired panic alarms offer physical buttons placed throughout the school but again, will the teacher always be close to the button? In my opinion, the best solution is to give the teachers an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag so they can just press a button on their tag and it’s always with them. This way the teacher can press the panic button from anywhere in the school and a notification is sent. This solution can also be extended to students to locate students and always ensure their safety.
2. Why Cybersecurity?
Superintendents need to realize that schools are a target. Cybercriminals know they don’t have the IT resources and safeguards of corporate America. Unfortunately, it usually takes about 180 days before a breach is detected and a school realizes they’ve been hacked. This is why schools need ways to protect their confidential information, detect when they are being attacked and be able to recover their information with a solid backup and disaster recovery plan.
Believe it or not, two of the biggest cybersecurity threats in schools are “click happy” staff and students opening phishing emails and unsecure networked printers and copiers that are not up to today’s security protection standards. For this reason, schools need to train their people to detect common threats and ensure their network printers have the latest firmware and updates to block this increasingly vulnerable point of access.
3. Why Ed Law 2D Compliance?
We owe it to our students to protect their identities. Sadly, too many students are having their identity stolen and they don’t find out until they get older and try to secure a student loan or apply for a mortgage only to find out their identity has been stolen. When Ed-Law 2D compliance was enacted, it was a big step in NYS to protect the private information of faculty, students, and staff. That’s why schools need to make sure that their policies are current, their data is secure, and they have a disaster recovery plan in the event of a cyberattack.
Superintendents can connect with Paul Caputo on LinkedIn or here.
About NATIONAL
Committed to their customers since 1927, NATIONAL offers a range of Managed Services including IT Support and Augmentation, Cybersecurity, UCaaS, Managed Print, Document Management as well as VoIP/Telephony, Cloud Services, Printers, Copiers, MFPs, Product Print Equipment and SmartBoards.
For the latest industry trends and technology insights visit NATIONAL’s Business Technology Theater.
