Lawmakers press Education secretary to address K-12 cybersecurity threats

Democratic Reps. Doris Matsui of California and Jim Langevin of Rhode Island sent a letter urging Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to release "immediate guidance" to explain that the federal funding may be used to purchase security products by K-12 school districts seeking to improve their cybersecurity defenses, EdScoop reports . Specifically, the two members of conference were referring to the $2.2 trillion CARES Act and the supplemental relief package in December. "While schools can reasonably interpret this text to indicate cybersecurity costs would be considered eligible expenses, written guidance from the Department to that effect will ensure schools have the information they need to make informed decisions about how to use these funds," the letter stated. According to a report released last month by the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center, there was an 18% increase in the number of cyberattacks against primary and secondary schools, reaching at least 408 cybersecurity incidents in 2020, which included ransomware, threats, phishing and denial-of-service.