Sacramento Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On July 12, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-07) released the following statement after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a proposal to enhance cybersecurity protections for school networks. In December of last year, Congresswoman Matsui urged Chairwoman Rosenworcel to strengthen K-12 cybersecurity through the E-Rate program.

“Cyberattacks on our K-12 schools are growing at an untenable rate, that’s why I urged Chairwoman Rosenworcel to provide additional flexibility for cybersecurity infrastructure through the E-Rate program,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “Increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks disrupt learning and expose sensitive student data. If we want to truly protect our students and schools, we must provide them the tools to keep pace with modern technological advances to mitigate cyber risks. Today’s announcement by Chairwoman Rosenworcel is a great step forward to secure the networks our K-12 schools and libraries rely on.”

Cyberattacks targeting schools are increasing in frequency and severity. These attacks threaten students’ privacy and cause harmful classroom disruptions. According to the K12 Security Information eXchange (K12 SIX), from 2016-2022 there were over 1,600 publicly disclosed cyber incidents involving education organizations across all 50 states. These cyber incidents included ransomware, data breaches, and denial-of service attacks, among others.

Congresswoman Matsui has long been a champion of securing our technological future and serves as Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. She authors the bipartisan Enhancing K-12 Cybersecurity Act, which would strengthen cybersecurity at America’s K-12 schools by promoting access to information, better tracking cyberattacks nationally, and providing new cybersecurity resources.

Original source can be found here