by Rebecca Walker — May 20, 2009—K-12 school districts across the country are on the security offensive and battling against unyielding combatants such as lack of budget and too few resources as security breaches continue to rise.
CDW Government, Inc., released the findings of its third annual School Safety Index, which provides a nationwide view of school safety issues from the perspective of more than 400 district IT and security directors. CDW-G found that, although the number of security breaches increased in the last year, schools made some important gains and are addressing critical areas of school safety.
The survey found gains in school districts use of security cameras as a deterrent, with 79 percent of districts reporting that they use cameras, compared to 70 percent in 2008. In addition, the survey found that 88 percent of districts now use wireless networks to give students increased access to the Internet and other learning resources, and 92 percent of districts are using some type of encryption to protect their network and critical data
However, only three-quarters of survey respondents rated their current physical and cyber security as adequate. To help K-12 schools better understand and measure their cyber and physical security, CDW-G developed the School Safety Index Self-Assessment Tool, available for free download.
