InfoSecBulletin Cybersecurity for mankind
North Dakota has become the first state in the United States of America to approve the cybersecurity education legislation that enables bringing cybersecurity education to schools. Governor Doug Burgum signed the landmark House Bill (HB1398) that outlined the requirement to develop a computer science and cybersecurity integration plan to promote it in schools.
Applauding the momentous move, Kirsten Baesler, North Dakota School Superintendent said, “Today is the culmination of years of work by stakeholders from all sectors to recognize and promote the importance of cybersecurity and computer science education in our elementary, middle and high schools.
Progress LoadMaster exposed to a critical 10/10 vulnerability
By infosecbulletin / Sunday , September 8 2024Progress Software released an emergency fix for a critical vulnerability (10/10) in its Loadmaster and LoadMaster Multi-Tenant Hypervisor products, which...Read More
Cisco released security updates for two critical security flaws
By infosecbulletin / Thursday , September 5 2024CISCO released security updates for two critical security flaws impacting its smart Licensing Utility that could allow unauthenticated, remote attackers...Read More
OpenBAS: Cutting-edge breach and attack simulation platform
By infosecbulletin / Wednesday , September 4 2024OpenBAS is a platform that helps organizations to plan, schedule, and conduct crisis exercises, adversary simulations, and breach simulations. OpenBAS...Read More
Critical Security Flaws Patched in Zyxel Networking Devices
By infosecbulletin / Wednesday , September 4 2024Zyxel has released software updates to fix a serious security issue in certain access point (AP) and security router versions....Read More
CVE-2024-38811: CEV In VMware Fusion Unveiled
By infosecbulletin / Tuesday , September 3 2024VMware released a security advisory for a major vulnerability in the VMware Fusion product. This vulnerability could be exploited by...Read More
CERT-IN Warns Vulnerabilities in Palo Alto Networks applications
By infosecbulletin / Tuesday , September 3 2024Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) issued advisories about multiple vulnerabilities in various Palo Alto Networks applications. Attackers could exploit...Read More
How Malaysia’s Data Centre Industry Poised for Growth
By infosecbulletin / Tuesday , September 3 2024Malaysia is quickly becoming a leading choice for investing in data centers. It aims to generate RM3.6 billion (US$781 million)...Read More
RansomHub exfiltrated data over 210 victims: US alert
By infosecbulletin / Tuesday , September 3 2024US authorities have issued a cybersecurity advisory about a ransomware group called RansomHub. The group is thought to have stolen data...Read More
Godzilla Fileless Backdoor Exploits Atlassian Confluence flaw
By infosecbulletin / Tuesday , September 3 2024There is a new way to attack Atlassian Confluence using the vulnerability CVE-2023-22527. The Confluence Data Center and Server products...Read More
New Cicada ransomware targets VMware ESXi servers
By infosecbulletin / Tuesday , September 3 2024The Cicada3301 ransomware is made in Rust and attacks Windows and Linux/ESXi hosts. Truesec researchers examined a version that targets...Read More
Governor Burgum noted, “Cybersecurity is one of the most pressing issues we have in North Dakota,” while addressing the cybersecurity education legislation at the bill signing ceremony.
About the cybersecurity education legislation
As part of the cybersecurity education legislation, the coursework will be taught to students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The House Bill proposed having units of computer science or cybersecurity. This legislation is set to be approved by July 1, 2024.
A division of North Dakota Information Technology, EduTech will help develop courseware of cybersecurity and computer science for the teachers’ training material. Local schools will be able to use the integration plan and create their own study material.
The work behind the cybersecurity education legislation is inspired by a vision from 2015 that sought to craft instructional material for K-12. This collaboration saw a group being formed comprising legislators and stakeholders like state agencies, industry experts, teachers, businesses, administrators, and families, the cybersecurity academic content standard was crafted.
This work also helped create cybersecurity and computer science credentials for teachers to add to their teaching licenses.
Schools have been increasingly targeted by ransomware groups wherein student data is sold online. In order to curb cybercrime and increase cyber hygiene, this computer science and cybersecurity education legislation was much required.
Governor Burgum stated that living in the day and age where information comes online and not just from books makes way for both opportunities and risks.
Insights shared about cybersecurity education legislation
When asked about the dire need for a cybersecurity education legislation, Alon Gal, Co-founder & CTO at cybercrime intelligence company Hudson Rock said to The Cyber Express.
“Teaching cyber security to K-12 students is incredibly important. With the increasing prevalence of technology in our daily lives, it’s essential that we educate young people on how to stay safe online by helping them develop important skills like identifying phishing scams, creating strong passwords, and understanding the dangers of oversharing online.”
When asked about how cybersecurity education was forwarded in Israel, Alon said, “Israeli schools have been at the forefront of this movement, and their success in implementing cybersecurity programs is something that we can learn from.”
The executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), Julia Fallon reiterated the need for having specially created study material for students. According to a Government Technology report, Fallon said, “Just taking business models that are out in the corporate space and applying it to K-12 doesn’t necessarily solve the problems.”
The reintroduction of the Cybersecurity Skills Integration Act in the House as a bipartisan bill was also a welcome move. This act was for creating a pilot program in the Department of Education and was sponsored by Reps. Jim Langevin, and GT Thompson.
A competitive grant of $10 million was marked as an award for career and technical education programs in creating cybersecurity in their curricula.
