Lisa Plaggemier is the executive director of the National Security Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes cybersecurity education and awareness. Jill Anderson from The Harvard Edcast interviews her on how schools are not prepared for a cybersecurity attack. Plaggemier argues that schools should have cyber awareness based on a simulated attack training similar to companies and admits that this can be challenging with the competing priorities of educators. Plaggemier is concerned that schools lack resources like banks in countering cyber-attacks which makes them more vulnerable to cybercriminals who “have to kind of work their way down their food chain.” Plaggemier argues for four key practices: 1. Watch out for social engineering and phishing. 2. Keep software up to date and updated patches. 3. Use multi-factor authentication. 4. Strengthen passwords by possibly using a password manager. Plaggemier especially emphasizes multi-factor authentication. By combining these four techniques with realistic training, Plaggemier argues that schools “can make a world of difference” in countering cybercrime.
