Email phishing scams are flooding the Internet: How not to get lured in. Nearly 85 percent of American and British organizations have been victims of phishing attacks, most delivered by email (other popular vehicles include mobile devices, social media, and phone calls). Financial loss, productivity slowdown, and reputation damage are just some of the consequences …
by Lisa McComsey 
An old cybercrime that first surfaced in the late ‘80s, ransomware has re-emerged as a sinister plague. It can infect school networks—and pretty much everyone else on the planet who has access to a computer and the Internet. According to the FBI, ransomware victims in the U.S. doled out $209 million in first quarter 2016, compared …
by Lisa McComsey 
Are your endusers vulnerable to social engineering? The scammers are counting on it. You’ve gone to great lengths to protect your school network with firewalls, filters, and anti-virus software. But you’ve still got a weak link (or hundreds). It’s called your end-user. Any one of staff members or students could fall for a social-engineering scam that devastates …
by Lisa McComsey 
Could your school district be next? Here’s how to protect your network from hackers. Hack jobs are on the rise. Every week, it seems, we hear stories about someone infiltrating a K–12 network. Sure, you do your best to protect your network from hackers. But it’s not so simple. Among these hackers are crafty scammers, ranging from …
by Lisa McComsey 
New school year—new headaches? With the ever-changing landscape of K–12 technology (New products! New rules! New needs!), the job of an IT director can be heartburn inducing. A little bit of planning will go a long way. To help you get organized, we’ve compiled this handy EdTech checklist, so nothing slips through the cracks as …
by Lisa McComsey 
Budgeting for next year? Here’s how to get the best bang for your buck. There’s a lot of pressure on IT directors to find excellent products and stay within (ever-shrinking) school tech budgets. It’s a tough balancing act. But with some careful planning and not-too-painful frugality, that mission can be accomplished. Read on. Evaluate Your Current …
by Lisa McComsey 
World’s most-told lie? “We have great customer service.” Your due diligence will uncover the truth. So, you just purchased an expensive system for your school. You were wowed by the product and impressed with the promise of “great customer service.” You may even have paid for an enhanced service plan, which would surely guarantee top-notch support. …
by Lisa McComsey 
No black eyes involved. But cyberbullying can have bruising, lifelong consequences. Here’s what you need to know. Bullying used to take place on the playground or in school hallways: an insult here, a shove there, the occasional black eye. Now there’s a new threat in town: cyberbullying. This behavior plays out online—in emails and text …
by Lisa McComsey 
Savvy students can bypass school Internet filters to access prohibited info. What can you do? Plenty. We’ve promoted our SecureSchool Internet filter on Google AdWords, and we’re (perhaps naively) surprised to find that many searchers are looking not for school Internet filters—but for ways to bypass those filters. Go ahead: Google “how to bypass school …
by Lisa McComsey 
The popularity of “bring your own device” is growing. But have you considered the disadvantages of BYOD? BYOD (bring your own device) has caught on like wildfire, and K–12 schools throughout the country (and world) are madly adopting it. The benefits are many (see our rundown in Part I of the Pleasures and Perils of …
by Lisa McComsey FROM OUR BLOG
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