I want to bring to your attention a cybersecurity alert. Over the weekend an MSAD #51 student's school gmail account was hacked in an attempted phishing case by an unknown user outside the US. An unauthorized email was sent to 1,400 MSAD #51 school accounts (students and staff) using the student's school gmail address, though many ended up going to spam.
The content of the email is concerning as it includes a link to inquire about a remote job offer, requests disclosure of a phone number, and asks that replies be sent from private email accounts. Due to this being a possible attempt to connect with students online, for safety purposes this has been referred to the Cumberland Police Department.
You may recall that back in October I wrote about cybersecurity as one of the district's 2024-25 strategic priorities. Below is an excerpt from this newsletter article, which referenced how phishing is incorporated into the digital citizenship lessons taught in our schools:
In addition to having contingency plans in place to prevent cybersecurity attacks from infiltrating our systems, the other layer of prevention is education. Our district has a K-8 Digital Citizenship Scope & Sequence based on resources provided by Common Sense Media. One example of this curriculum is from a grade 7 lesson called "Don't Feed the Phish" with the following objectives:
- Compare and contrast identity theft with other kinds of theft.
- Describe different ways that identity theft can occur online.
- Use message clues to identify examples of phishing.
Helping students understand that they play an important role in responsible digital citizenship is key. At the end of the day, cybersecurity is a fact of life in the digital age. It is part of living in the 21st Century and preparing our students for their future in a globally interconnected world.