Flashpoint Announces Cybersecurity Platform for K-12

The growing threat of cybersecurity for K-12 schools has led to increased attention and spending to defend the fort from the faceless criminals. With the sophistication of the threat evolving, a New York-based company that focuses its efforts on threat, vulnerability and risk intelligence has launched a tool for K-12 schools to thwart any would-be hackers.

Traditionally serving private-sector and government clients, Flashpoint on Tuesday launched a tool for K-12 school systems including risk management and security solutions to detect and mitigate both virtual and physical threats. The company said in its news release that, as threats of ransomware and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks toward school systems continue to increase, the Flashpoint Intelligence Platform will help districts assess and respond to cyber attacks, develop contingencies, flag fake or impersonating social media accounts, find whether school-affiliated email credentials are being sold on the dark web, coordinate with law enforcement and monitor threats.

According to the company’s website, the platform is currently being utilized by one of the largest K-12 school systems in the country, as well as in higher education at Texas A&M University.

“Schools increasingly are facing a confluence of cyber and physical threats that have to be addressed holistically,” said Steve Cooperman, Flashpoint's vice president of global public sector sales, in a public statement. “Our K-12 risk management and security solutions are specifically designed to address the unique threats facing school boards nationwide, which cost taxpayers millions of dollars and far too often put the livelihoods of students, parents and school personnel at risk."

The company said in its release that the platform can detect the seriousness of the attack when cyber extortion occurs and puts together an action plan to minimize its impact. The company will work with schools to develop alternative plans should an attack occur, including setting up a way to make payments safely. The release said that the company also uses machine learning to find out if any school logo is being impersonated, and its platform can determine whether school-affiliated emails have been exposed and then initiate a process to reset passwords and restrict permissions.

The announcement comes as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is in the process of administering $1 billion in cybersecurity grants, state and local governments are finalizing their 2022-23 fiscal year budgets, and some states are hiking spending on cybersecurity for school districts.