Employees of InterMountain Education Service District (IMESD) and staff from several of its component school districts in the region learned about cybersecurity on Tuesday, October 24th. The Cybersecurity Incident Response Training and Tabletop Exercise was organized by IMESD’s IT (Information Technology) Department and facilitated by Dr. Dana Lockhart, Training and Exercise Coordinator for the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Leslie Kainoa, CISA Oregon Cybersecurity State Coordinator, was also present.
The event was held at Wildhorse Resort and Casino, and 46 participants from IMESD and from nine of its districts attended.
During the event, participants were challenged by a realistic scenario designed to test their cybersecurity incident response ability and demonstrate their capabilities and decision-making process in response to the incident. The scenario included features like phishing, ransomware, school vendors, physical security systems, student data security, communication plans and more.
School districts were encouraged to send administrators, business managers, IT leadership, communication staff and to bring their district’s Emergency Operations Plan. During the five-hour training exercise, it was emphasized that end users – teachers, staff and students -- of school computers must be educated about keeping systems safe. Other discussion centered around evaluating the security of computer apps teachers may want to use in classrooms, cybersecurity insurance, keeping student data safe, computer server backup capabilities, consideration about paying ransoms and roles and responsibilities of district staff if an incident occurs.
Nick Lapp, IMESD Chief Technology Officer, said it is important for IMESD and the districts it serves to include cybersecurity response in their overall Emergency Operation Plans (EOP). “A cybersecurity incident in a school district can affect multiple systems and greatly affect the district’s ability to provide instruction. Preparing for such an incident is just as crucial as physical security,” Lapp said.
The event was free for employees of IMESD and its component school districts.
