The School (in)Security Newsletter: Hackers Hawk Stolen LAUSD Files; Parkland HS Demolished; Swatter Sentenced
There鈥檚 an innate tension between school safety and students鈥� civil rights. 社区黑料鈥檚 Mark Keierleber keeps you up to date on the news you need to know
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Last week, I set out to write a quick news hit on the 鈥� a pilot program that will pump $200 million toward next-gen firewalls and other tools.
But that鈥檚 when things got weird.
I came upon a new listing on a notorious dark web forum 鈥� the Amazon for stolen data, if you will 鈥� that offered millions of files purportedly stolen from the Los Angeles Unified School District for a thousand bucks.
LAUSD officials said they鈥檙e investigating the anonymous threat actor鈥檚 claims and a threat intelligence executive told me the district must carry out a full incident response to verify if the files are real.
Or new.
It isn鈥檛 d茅j脿 vu: America鈥檚 second-largest school district fell victim to a massive ransomware attack in 2022. Thousands of students鈥� mental health records and other sensitive files found their way to the dark web. It鈥檚 possible that the LAUSD data got a facelift of its own, with the same data repackaged to make a quick buck.
In the news
Today in Florida, workers are set to demolish the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School building where a gunman killed 17 people in a 2018 rampage. |
Relatives of 17 children killed during the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, have sued state law enforcement officers who waited 77 minutes before confronting the gunman at Robb Elementary School. |
Special report: Through an unprecedented trove of dispatch call data for 852 California school addresses, reporters offer a rare look at 鈥渢he vast presence of police in schools.鈥� A third of calls 鈥渨ere about serious incidents that reasonably required a police presence.鈥� |
New York lawmakers approved landmark rules that ban social media companies from using 鈥渁ddictive鈥� algorithms to customize children鈥檚 feeds. Here鈥檚 a strong rundown on how the rules work. |
SWATted down: A Washington man has been sentenced to three years in prison for calling in hoax police reports in more than 20 states, including inciting false school shooting panic, leading to frantic lockdowns and massive police responses. |
First they came for the books. Next they came for the books about book bans. |
A new program in Illinois to help low-income families pay for the funeral costs of children killed by guns was designed to ease grief and financial burdens. After a year, just two families have been compensated. |
Prioritizing 鈥榩rofit over the wellbeing and safety of children鈥�: Residential treatment companies that provide behavioral health services have put children at risk of sexual abuse and dangerous physical restraints, a new Senate committee report argues. |
First comes marriage, then comes homeroom: Missouri lawmakers failed to pass legislation that sought to prevent anyone under 18 years old from getting married, keeping in place the state鈥檚 minimum age of 16. |
A Tennessee school district where officials failed to prevent rampant racist bullying against a Black student will overhaul its anti-harassment procedures after reaching a settlement agreement with the Justice Department. Federal investigators found the student鈥檚 classmates passed around a drawing of a Ku Klux Klansmen, added him to a bigoted group chat and sold him to white peers in a mock 鈥渟lave auction.鈥� |
New York City school bathrooms could soon have 鈥渧ape sensors鈥� following a court settlement with tobacco company Juul that鈥檒l direct $27 million to the city鈥檚 schools to combat youth vaping. |
Research & advocacy
鈥楴ew Jim Code鈥�: Federal officials have failed to deter the civil rights harms that artificial intelligence in schools poses to students of color, a new report argues. |
DACA recipients are more likely than migrants without deportation safeguards to ask the police for help, suggesting the program increases engagement with police and reduces fear among crime victims. |
DACA recipients are more likely than migrants without deportation safeguards to ask the police for help, suggesting the program increases engagement with police and reduces fear among crime victims. |
ICYMI @The74
- Report: Higher Rates of Depression, Anxiety for LGBTQ Teens Forcibly Outed
- LA Schools Chief Carvalho Warns Student Homelessness Across City Worse Than Data Shows
- Psychologist Peter Gray Sounds the Alarm About Excessive Adult Oversight & What It鈥檚 Doing to Kids鈥� Mental Health
Emotional support
I promised you a new pup. I bring you a new pup.
Sinead, editor Kathy Moore鈥檚 new emotional support companion, surveys her domain.
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