Senators press CISA to do more to stop K-12 ransomware

Senators asked the new head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Wednesday what more the agency can do to help public school systems across the country to defend themselves from digital threats like ransomware, which has disrupted virtual learning environments, seized up educational IT resources and — in some places — even delayed or canceled classes.

Pressed by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., that the federal government “has a responsibility to help protect our communities from these threats,” Brandon Wales, the agency’s acting director, acknowledged that the extortion malware that’s run rampant across state and local networks, hospitals and businesses is an urgent issue.