CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Department of Education is working with county school superintendents to ensure cyber security protocols are up to date.
Tim Conzett, technology officer with the department’s Office of Data Management & Information Systems, told members of the state Board of Education Wednesday they’re working to deploy a number of tools to keep school systems safe.
“The same tools that we deploy at the state level can be deployed at the county level, in some cases, at no cost,” Conzett said.
The state is working on managing enhanced firewalls, scanning emails, monitoring malicious content and isolating it, along with fishing tests and password strengthening.
Conzett said he understands every county has different needs.
“We have counties that have a lot of resources, can deploy and develop their own practices. We have some counties who don’t have that,” he said. “We’re working with counties to develop practices that can better mitigate responses and attacks.”
Just like checking in through security at an airport, Conzett said there should be required protections in place with school technology.
“Security is not convenient. We have to get to that point where we understand,” he said.
Conzett said security measures are meant to make threats less severe.
“We can’t stop every attack. It’s just not possible, but if we deploy the tools that we have and the steps that we can take, we can mitigate the action,” he said.
