IST Senior Director for Preparedness and Response Michael Klein attended a press conference held by Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, Kentucky to announce a $3.7 million award from the Federal Communications Commission to bolster the district’s cybersecurity defenses.
Michael joined the JCPS leadership team–Superintendent Dr. Brian Yearwood, Chief Information Officer Eric Satterly, and Executive Administrator for Information Security Raghu Seshadri–in speaking to reporters on Wednesday.
In a spot on Louisville’s CBS affiliate network WLKY, Michael emphasized the challenging and indispensable work school districts do every day protecting students, teachers, and families.
“Every day, school districts across Kentucky and across the country are defending teachers and students against transnational criminal actors.”
He went on to lay out the real world impacts of cyber incidents on families and the importance of federal and state support to protect our schools. “With ransomware shutting down schools and massive data breaches exposing student information, there’s an important role for the federal government, state governments, and big technology companies to play in supporting “target rich, cyber poor” organizations like school districts and the communities they serve. Federal funding, like the Federal Communication Commission’s school cybersecurity pilot program helps districts like JCPS to provide innovative digital learning opportunities safely and securely.”
