According to a news release, the petition offers cost estimates for three options: $738 million for next-generation firewalls, $1.606 billion for next-generation firewalls and endpoint security features, or $2.389 billion for all layers of cybersecurity.
Those figures came from the CoSN E-rate Cybersecurity Cost Estimate, developed through a partnership with Funds for Learning. Costs were based on five-year price models for hardware, software and cloud-based services used to guard schools against cyberattacks.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and FBI have received a slew of reports about ransomware attacks against students continuing their studies virtually during the coronavirus pandemic.
Developed as a way to help schools and libraries afford broadband, the current E-rate program only allows investments in basic network security, but CoSN CEO Keith Krueger said in a public statement that students are more vulnerable than ever to cyberattacks.
“The reality is that, nowadays, school districts are home to a vast amount of valuable personal data that cybercriminals are interested in stealing — that is why the FBI has warned that K-12 education is the most targeted public sector for ransomware attacks,” he said. “But schools lack the federal funding required to effectively combat these intrusions.”
The CoSN-led petition received support from the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA); the State E-rate Coordinators' Alliance (SECA); the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed); the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB) and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS).
