The UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 58 Show Notes

We welcome Mike Dronen to be our guest in episode 58 of the UNSECURITY Podcast! Mike is the Executive Director of Technology for Minnetonka Public Schools (District 276), and he’s joining us to talk about information security challenges facing K-12.

In case you missed the past couple of weeks, we talked a ton about legal and privacy stuff with our favorite data privacy and “cybersecurity” attorney, Justin Webb. Justin works for Godfrey & Kahn, S.C. in Milwaukee, and here’s what we covered:

• Episode 56 – Target’s lawsuit against Chubb (still more fallout from the 2013 breach) and China’s Cryptography Law.
• Episode 57 – All about the confusing and flawed California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Lots of good content and advice in these past couple of episodes. This week with Mike Dronnen is sure to be great too!

I’m leading the show this week, and here are my notes.

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SHOW NOTES – Episode 58

Date: Monday, December 16th, 2019

Show Topics:

Our topics this week:

• Information Security Challenges in K-12
  • Article: The Cybersecurity Threats That Keep K–12 CIOs Up at Night
  • How does information security work in K-12?
  • What makes K-12 different than everywhere else?
  • What are there differences between large school districts and smaller ones?
  • What tips do we have for administrators?
  • What tips do we have for educators?
  • What tips do we have for parents?
• News

Opening

[Evan] Welcome back! This is episode 58 of the UNSECURITY Podcast, and I’m your host this week, Evan Francen. Today is December 16th, and joining me is my co-host, Brad Nigh. Good morning Brad.

[Brad] We’ll see how awake he is this fine Monday morning.

[Evan] We’ve had a couple of great shows the past couple of weeks. We learned a lot from our guest, Justin Webb. We talked a ton about privacy things and legal things. This week we’re going to shift gears a bit, and talk about information security in K-12. To help us navigate these waters, I’ve invited the Executive Director of Technology from Minnetonka Public Schools to our show. Minnetonka is my alma mater, and Mike Dronnen is a good friend. Welcome Mike!

[Mike] Mike’s a good guy. He’ll surely say “hi” or something.

[Evan] Mike, we’re excited to have you on the show for a number of reasons. You’re a good guy, I’m a Skipper, and Brad’s got some kids in your district too. Thank you for joining, especially on short notice.

Before we dive in, I like to check-in. Mike, how you doing? How was your week and what do you expect this week?

[Mike] Mike shares what he’d like to share.

[Evan] And Brad. How are you and what’s up?

[Brad] Sharing is caring.

[Evan] We’re all busy. Hopefully, health busy. My quick recap…

Alright, let’s talk about information security in K-12, shall we?

Discussion about information security challenges in K-12

• Article: The Cybersecurity Threats That Keep K–12 CIOs Up at Night
• How does information security work in K-12?
• What makes K-12 different than everywhere else?
• What are there differences between large school districts and smaller ones?
• What tips do we have for administrators?
• What tips do we have for educators?
• What tips do we have for parents?

[Evan] Another great discussion. There are some real challenges for K-12, and I think we’ve all got some skin in this game to do the best we can. Thanks Mike!

Let’s do some news…

News

[Evan] Always plenty of things to talk about in the news, and here’s a few stories that caught my eye this week:

• New Orleans Attack
  • New Orleans Hit by Cyberattack; Declares State of Emergency – https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/91435-new-orleans-hit-by-cyberattack-declares-state-of-emergency
  • Cyberattack on New Orleans City Computers Called ‘Minimal’ – https://www.securityweek.com/cyberattack-new-orleans-city-computers-called-minimal
  • Ryuk Ransomware is suspected to be involved in the New Orleans cyberattack – https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/95182/malware/new-orleans-ryuk-ransomware.html
• Largest hospital system in New Jersey was hit by ransomware attack – https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/95152/cyber-crime/new-jersey-hospital-ransomware-attack.html
• Over 750,000 applications for US birth certificate copies exposed online – https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/09/birth-certificate-applications-exposed/

Closing

[Evan] That’s it. Episode 58 is a wrap. Thank you to Mike for joining us and for sharing your perspectives on K-12 information security!

Thank you to our listeners! Keep the questions and feedback coming. Send things to us by email at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @evanfrancen, and Brad’s @BradNigh. Mike, is there a way you prefer for people to interact with you?

Lastly, be sure to follow SecurityStudio (@studiosecurity) and FRSecure (@FRSecure) for more goodies.

That’s it! Talk to you all again next week!