Last week, we hosted Michael Tapia, Chief Technology Officer at Clint ISD in Texas, and Kobe Brummet, Cybersecurity Technician at Hawkins School District in Tennessee, for a live webinar.
Michael and Kobe volunteered to share with other K-12 tech pros how important cybersecurity and safety monitoring are for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and online browsing.
They also shared several use cases of how they specifically use ManagedMethods’ Cloud Monitor platform to help with automation. We will share each use case in the coming weeks on our ManagedMethods blog—so stay tuned! You can watch the full webinar recording here.
Human error and a lack of cybersecurity awareness are driving the growing cybersecurity threat against K-12 districts. Route Fifty shares that only 10% of educators understand cybersecurity, and most students have minimal or no knowledge about it. Further, researchers from Stanford University and a top cybersecurity organization found that approximately 88% of all data breaches are caused by an employee.
To share his own experience with user education, Michael Tapia, emphasized how implementing Cloud Monitor brought about significant changes in his district’s handling of sensitive data—particularly in the special education department.
“When we first turned on Cloud Monitor, the platform alerted us to the fact that the special education department was improperly sharing IEP, student, and health data left and right. This led us to sit down with the department and review our district’s policies and expectations for data sharing, and student and guardian data protection. This has changed how the department operates.”
—Michael Tapia, Chief Technology Officer, Clint ISD
Instead of panicking, Michael saw this as an opportunity for his team to collaborate with the special education department. Together, they reviewed the district’s cybersecurity policies and educated the department about student data privacy. This collaborative effort enhanced the department’s understanding of cyber hygiene and also significantly improved its handling of sensitive data.
We want to give a special “Thank You” to Michael and Kobe for sharing their time and expertise. Their valuable insights into how other district technology teams can improve cybersecurity and student safety in Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 will no doubt help many other districts secure their data and keep students safe online.
