Political Quotes

“Our Nation's critical infrastructure and cybersecurity are increasingly under attack by malicious actors who seek to extort and do harm to the American people. Hospitals, financial institutions, utilities, and government agencies are all popular targets, but cyberattacks are now targeting the next generation of Americans, K-12 students. While the total number of cyberattacks on K-12 schools is unknown, recent reports have indicated that ransomware attacks on K-12 schools increased between 2020 and 2022. Local and State officials report that loss of learning following a cyberattack can range from 3 days to 3 weeks, and recovery time can take anywhere from 2 to 9 months. Officials also reported monetary losses to school districts ranging from $50,000 to $1 million due to expenses from a cyber incident. Cyberattacks often result in the disclosure and theft of students' personal information. In a 2020 report, the GAO found that such information compromised included students grades, their Social Security numbers, and medical information. In December 2021, a vendor for Chicago Public Schools was a victim of a ransomware attack in which more than 500,000 students' and staff members' personal information was disclosed. The data included the students' names, schools, dates of birth, gender, school identification numbers, State student identification numbers, and course information from previous school years.…”