During the past six months, School Districts 75 and 120 made significant progress in strengthening their cybersecurity program through a combination of independent review, technology improvements, staff training, enhanced monitoring and updated practices.

In February, school boards from both districts authorized Net56 Incorporated to provide managed monitoring, threat detection and incident response for their shared technology services. The consultant’s work is designed to complement and enhance work done by the districts’ technology staff.

“Protecting student, staff, and District information remains an important and ongoing priority,” said Cathy Johnson, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations. “The goal is continuous improvement, always protecting the information entrusted to the District while building systems and practices that are increasingly secure, resilient, and prepared for the future.”

The partnership with Net56 continued from a comprehensive review of the cybersecurity environment. The technology team  created a detailed inventory of more than 2,200 infrastructure assets in both districts, made continued improvements to network and account security, expanded monitoring and response capabilities, and completed a review of the vulnerability management process. It also implemented recurring vulnerability scanning to identify and address security opportunities across district systems.

Meanwhile, the districts’ Technology Team, along with Net 56, has continued to build policies, procedures and processes to strengthen internal procedures and staff awareness so cybersecurity is approached as a shared organizational responsibility. A follow-up independent review is planned as part of this ongoing cycle of assessment and improvement.

Cybersecurity is never a finished project, said Ana Estrada, Chief Technology Officer for both Districts 75 and 120. It requires continuous evolution to keep pace with changing technology and emerging threats.

“Our goal is steady improvement, protecting the data entrusted to us while building systems that are resilient, secure, and future-ready,” she said. “This begins with education. Our ultimate objective is to cultivate truly informed technology citizens among both our students and staff.”

In its six-month implementation report to the District 120 School Board on September 9, Net56 shared the impressive progress this partnership has achieved. It will address the District 75 School Board on September 22.