Episode 23: Securing Family Devices with SANS Institute
School districts are more digitally connected than ever before in today’s learning environment, thanks to cloud applications such as Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. Further, hybrid and remote learning is here to stay in schools. This means districts are seeing more devices and access from students and staff coming from many locations at any given time.
For National Cybersecurity Awareness Month this past October, SANS Institute (SANS) introduced its #SecureTheFamily campaign to help protect families online. The initiative aims to help educate families with techniques to secure home devices and school-issued devices and the personal data stored within them. This way, parents and guardians can help better protect children and teens online.
In school districts, every device can be used as a potential point of entry for hackers looking to spread phishing, malware, ransomware, exfiltrate data—you name it. Especially now with the rise of BYOD, with students and staff logging into their school Google and Microsoft accounts on personal devices. It’s more important that families know what it takes to be safe and secure online.
In this episode of The K-12 Tech Experience podcast, we are joined by Domenica Lee Crognale, a Certified Instructor and Author at SANS Institute. SANS is a global leading cybersecurity training, research and certification organization helping educate the current and future cybersecurity workforce. Domenica is also the author of the FOR585 Smartphone Forensic Analysis course offered by the organization.
Learn more about Domenica and SANS Institute in our episode preview below (edited for clarity). Give the episode a listen by clicking on the podcast player on this page and subscribe to you are always up to date on the latest from The K-12 Tech Experience!
JK: Let’s have you share more about yourself, your career, and SANS Institute for our listeners before we get going.
DC: I started in the world of computer forensics back in 2006. I worked at the state department in the office of visa and passport fraud. I worked my way up from inventorying computer equipment all the way to the analysis side.
I moved on to a new agency but was always a contractor for the federal government. I specifically started dealing with mobile devices in 2009. They are always changing, there is always something to research, so [mobile devices] are always keeping you on your toes.
I took my first training class as a student in 2010. SANS offers classes geared towards management, security, forensics, and incident response. You get so much information and walk out with skills you can apply to your workplace. Everything from basic cybersecurity practices to reverse-engineering malware.
JK: SANS Institute recently launched its Secure the Family campaign to help families stay protected online. Can you share more about the campaign before we dig in further?
DC: As more devices are coming into our houses, it’s more critical than ever to properly secure them. To keep your family, children, and friends safe from cyberattacks. We know each household has varying degrees of cyber know-how. We at SANS wanted to put the most useful information together in one place so that it’s available to a wider audience.
Listen to the rest of our conversation with Domenica below and check out previous episodes on the ManagedMethods podcast page. Make sure to subscribe to The K-12 Tech Experience wherever you listen to your podcasts, so you never miss an episode!
