NEWS
Jefferson County Public Schools advances digital education with Extreme Cloud Networking Solutions
as part of a district-wide upgrade . The refreshed network enables remote learning and powers cutting-edge digital education programs and applications for 200,000 users across 169 schools , ensuring consistent and secure access to critical educational resources and allowing the district to utilize data to improve student safety .
Annette Harris , Assistant Director of Infrastructure Services , JCPS , said : “ We are working with a small IT group in an enormous district , and my network team has to fill multiple roles . Without good support and dependable infrastructure , all our resources become locked up in network management .
“ But with Extreme , we ’ re currently reporting 99 % network uptime , and our team likes every product we ’ ve deployed . When we ’ re asked how we could quickly pivot to remote learning and still accomplish so many technology-driven initiatives in a system with nearly 200,000 users , it is because of the reliable support and network infrastructure that we know we can expect from Extreme .”
Jefferson County Public Schools ( JCPS ), the largest school system in Kentucky , has deployed Extreme high-density Wi-Fi 6 access points and the ExtremeCloud IQ network management platform
David Savage , Senior Director of Education Sales , Extreme Networks , said : “ Jefferson County Public Schools is a forwardthinking district and its cloud-driven approach to Digital Transformation is one to emulate .”
IBM study shows nearly 60 % of school staff are unprepared for cybersecurity threats
IBM has announced grants valued at US $ 3 million to help strengthen cybersecurity in schools .
These grants will be awarded to six school districts in the US to sponsor teams of IBM employees to help them proactively prepare for and respond to cyberattacks . Services will be delivered by teams deployed via IBM ’ s Service Corps Program .
The grant is being announced following a December alert from the FBI warning that nearly 60 % of reported ransomware incidents between August and September 2020 involved K-12 schools , a 29 % jump from the months prior .
In response to the growing ransomware attacks against schools , Morning Consult conducted a study , sponsored by IBM , of 1,000 US educators and administrators in K-12 schools and colleges to better understand the level of cybersecurity awareness , preparedness and training within schools during the shift to remote schooling .
The results demonstrate the growing need for improved security education and skills , as more than half of US educators and administrators have not received basic cybersecurity training from their institutions despite new remote learning protocols .
Christopher Scott , Director of Security Innovation , Office of the CISO , IBM , said : “ Stay-at-home orders , and the switch to remote learning , have changed the focus for cybercriminals looking for easy targets as everyone from kindergartners to college professors have adopted remote technologies .”
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