As quoted in:

Maher, Jake. “Coronavirus Compounds K-12 Cybersecurity Problems: 5 Areas to Watch.” Education Week. 17 March 2020.

“Doug Levin, the founder and president of the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center, pointed out that schools have long been the subject of ‘drive-by’ phishing scams: mass blasts of dubious emails looking to gather personal information. In recent years, they’ve also been hit with more sophisticated and targeted attacks.

 

The coronavirus pandemic, Levin said, compounds the problem.

 

Scammers and criminals really understand the human psyche and the desire for people to get more information and to feel in some cases, I think it’s fair to say in terms of coronavirus, some level of panic,” he said. “That makes people more likely to suspend judgment for messages that might otherwise be suspicious, and more likely to click on a document because it sounds urgent and important and relevant to them, even if they weren’t expecting it.”

Be sure and read the full article for a run down of the issues that should be top-of-mind for those charged with securing K-12 school systems during the pandemic. As I assert, “This is a time when schools would do well to be extra vigilant.”