by Mark Labbe, TechTarget SearchEnterpriseAI
Using AI-driven cybersecurity from ManagedMethods, a Georgia school district blocks external threats and identifies potentially harmful language in student documents.
An alert automatically triggers in the Bibb County School District cybersecurity office if a staff member, teacher, or student types certain violent, bullying or potentially harmful word or phrases into a document on a school computer.
“I want to hurt myself. I hate my life. Cut. Depressed.” These keywords, and ones like them, send a notification to Greg Hogan, the Georgia school system’s network data security coordinator.
The alert, generated by cyber safety software from ManagedMethods, enables Hogan to then look into the document the person is typing in. Usually it’s a Microsoft Word file. Students in the sprawling urban-suburban public school system tend to use the documents as a type of chat system, passing shareable documents to their friends.
“Sometimes, they’re just doing a report on something like mental health,” Hogan said. Sometimes, however, it’s a cry for help.
