In response to the growing cybersecurity threats facing America’s public schools, the Institute for Security and Technology (IST) has launched the K–12 Cyber Defense Coalition (K12 CDC) – a new national partnership made up of 13 education organizations working to protect schools from cyberattacks and improve response strategies.
IST is a nonprofit think tank that focuses on solving emerging security problems by bridging the gap between technology and security leaders. Some of its current areas of study include artificial intelligence risk reduction, open source software security, and ransomware defenses.
In a June 5 announcement, IST said the new coalition is designed to spark deeper collaboration among state and local education leaders, encourage smarter cybersecurity policy development, and promote critical information sharing across the sector.
The coalition, IST said, “will be able to dig more deeply into K-12 cybersecurity policy where the rubber meets the road: at the state and local levels, with crucial involvement from civil society.”
“Ultimately, the K-12 CDC aims to protect students, teachers, and families from the very real impacts of cyberattacks and to improve their resilience should one occur,” IST said.
According to IST, the U.S. Education Department’s Education Government Coordinating Council (GCC) laid the groundwork for the new coalition with the nation’s first K–12 cybersecurity sector risk assessment in 2024.
The council is aiming to take that work further and bring it closer to where school decisions are made and cyber risks are increasingly felt.
The coalition held its first meeting on May 23, and according to IST, emphasized the urgency of producing actionable guidance especially in light of recent third-party breaches like the PowerSchool incident.
Member organizations of the new coalition include:
- AASA: The School Superintendents Association
- AESA: Association of Educational Service Agencies
- CASE: Council of Administrators of Special Education
- CCSSO: Council of Chief State School Officers
- CGCS: Council of Great City Schools
- CoSN: Consortium for School Networking
- K12 SIX: K-12 Security Information eXchange
- NAESP: National Association of Elementary School Principals
- NASCIO: National Association of State Chief Information Officers
- NASSP: National Association of Secondary School Principals
- NREA: National Rural Education Association
- NSBA: National School Boards Association
- SETDA: State Educational Technology Directors Association
