5 On Your Side: Cyber threat warnings for students on break
Kids home from school for the holidays may be at a higher risk for becoming the target of a cyber attack.
New data from Cisco shows schools are not only under attack by cyber criminals, they’re the sector that’s been infected most with ransomware in 2022.
"It’s a dangerous world out there," Alsalm Hines of Raleigh told 5 On Your Side.
Hines says he’s warned his high school-aged son to be wary online.
"I mean you have to watch what you tap into," Hines said.
That even includes when something appears to come from your school, because schools have become a big target for criminal organizations chasing big paydays.
"I mean, you’re talking seven figure payouts, in a lot of cases, if not more," says Nick Biasini, Manager of Cisco’s Talos Outreach Team.
A cyber attack knocked out phone lines at Wake County Schools in 2021. In the fall of 2022, the FBI put out a nationwide alert about a specific Russian hacking group after it attacked America’s second largest school district.
"A lot of these criminals are opportunistic," Biasini told us. He says the worry now is kids out of school for the holidays, on their devices and computers more and maybe not on alert.
Biasini says parental controls can help defend against threats.
"It puts protections in place that makes it a little bit more difficult for, say, a kid to click a link, or open an attachment or do something to help facilitate that type of compromise," Biasini explained.
To manage those settings on an Android phone, check out the Google Family Link App.
For iPhones, look in Settings – Screen Time – and there you can set App Limits. The Content and Privacy restrictions tab also has many privacy control options.
If parental controls aren’t your thing, just remind your kids to always keep their guard up, slow down and if something doesn’t look right in an email, don’t click on it.
In North Carolina, a recently passed law makes it illegal for state and local government agencies to pay ransom to hackers who take over their systems. That includes public schools.
