FCC proposes program to prevent school cyberattacks

FCC program overview: 

• Who: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to spend up to $200 million over three years on a cybersecurity program to protect K-12 schools and school libraries. 
• Why: FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the FCC program to combat an increased number of sophisticated cyberattacks.
• Where: Rosenworcel announced the program in front of the School Superintendents Association and Association of School Business Officers.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced it plans to spend up to $200 million over three years on a program intended to stop cyberattacks at K-12 schools and school libraries.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told a meeting of the School Superintendents Association and Association of School Business Officers that the agency was set to begin the pilot program to protect school networks against school cyberattacks.

“With the growing number of sophisticated cyberattacks on schools and especially the rise in malicious ransomware attacks that harm our students, now is the time to take action,” Rosenworcel said. “We’re proposing a significant investment of up to $200 million over three years to harden the cyber defenses and determine the most effective methods to protect our schools and libraries. Our pilot program will work in tandem with federal agency partners that have deep expertise in this area.”

FCC has been looking a utilizing funds from E-Rate program to advance Wi-Fi and cybersecurity efforts

The new program is an expansion of the Learn Without Limits, a recent initiative to modernize the E-Rate program from 1996, which sent funds to libraries and schools for basic internet connections.

Rosenworcel kicked off Learn without Limits on June 26 at the ​​American Library Association’s annual conference when she asked commissioners to allow E-Rate funding to be used for wi-fi on school buses. Her goal is to allow for connections for rural students who must spend long hours on buses going back and forth to school.

The second phase of the program is asking for E-Rate funding to be used for wi-fi hotspots so libraries, school libraries and schools can check out books to students.

The third phase is to ask for those E-Rate funds to be used for cybersecurity and advanced firewall technology for schools and school libraries.

The FCC recently announced it would start a new data privacy and data protection task force in an attempt to protect consumer data online.

Have you been part of a cybersecurity breach? Let us know in the comments.

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