Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reed is calling on elected officials nationwide to do more to protect local schools from the threat of cybercrime.
At a Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce event in Tysons on Monday (March 11), Reed told U.S. Sen. Mark Warner that FCPS students, employees and other communities across the country are vulnerable to ransomware attacks. asked about Congress's strategy to address privacy threats.
“Every sector in this country is now being asked to set up a cybersecurity department,” she told Warner during a Q&A. “Our department is actually larger than the education department.”
Warner visited the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce's offices at Silverline Center, 7900 West Park Drive, to discuss several issues and express confidence in passing a second federal spending bill later this month. and stressed the need for Congress to provide aid to Ukraine.
As chairman of the Senate National Security and International Trade and Finance Committee, he also spoke passionately about the need to protect against domestic and international cyber threats, with a particular focus on social media platforms such as TikTok.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on a bipartisan bill that would require TikTok to be sold from Chinese owner ByteDance or face a nationwide ban. It's unclear whether the Senate is on the same page, but Warner said he supports putting “guardrails” in place.
“I think TikTok is a national security issue,” he told a room full of attendees. “…People are making money from TikTok as social influencers. I agree with that. It bothers me that this company is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.”
The emphasis on cybersecurity has led Reed and others to question the need for stronger federal regulation of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to protect schools that have had to start their own cybersecurity departments. argued that current regulations are inadequate.
“I want to focus on making sure all third graders can read and eighth graders can complete Algebra 2,” Reed said. “…this year, he was also approached for 20 cybersecurity-related positions, including: [how] We have to protect the data of 180,000 students or 40,000 faculty and staff, and I'm not a cybersecurity expert. ”
In September 2020, FCPS suffered a cyberattack from a hacker group called MAZE, which compromised hundreds of employees' personal records, including their social security numbers. The group threatened to leak employee records and other confidential documents unless the department paid a ransom.
FCPS told NBC4 it has hired cybersecurity experts and the FBI is investigating the attack.
Last November, FCPS faced another major data breach after it accidentally disclosed tens of thousands of sensitive student records to parents. The school concluded its investigation into the leak the following month.
But Warner pointed out that even if the bill were to pass, it would only be a “band-aid measure.”
“I don't have a great answer because even though we keep getting better, the bad guys keep getting better,” he said.
Read more on FFXnow…
