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  Educators struggle with AUP enforcement
  School districts create acceptable-use policies (AUPs) to define what is, and is not, acceptable behavior when using their computer resources. But at a time when computers and internet access are seen as increasingly important tools for instruction, many school leaders are struggling with how best to enforce these policies in the event that students transgress them. [ Read More ]

   

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  Getting a grasp on student hackers
  School IT administrators know that some students will do anything to breach network security systems designed to block inappropriate web sites and keep students on task. When a group of school district IT chiefs met recently to discuss the challenges of reining in students armed with tech savvy and a determination to wreak network havoc, their tales were cautionary—but their advice could prove valuable as computers become more common in K-12 schools. [ Read More ]

   

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  Study: Parents clueless about kids' internet use
  A recent survey suggests that many parents are unaware of their children's internet activity and typically underestimate how often their kids encounter online threats. [ Read More ]

   

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  Botnets: Beware the 'army of darkness'
  Cyber criminals are looking for holes in your school systems' networks so they can seize control of computers to launch attacks anonymously, experts say—distributing spam, viruses, or "Trojan Horse" assaults while often avoiding prosecution. The problem has grown so pervasive that computer-security experts have taken to referring to botnets as the "army of darkness"—and education institutions are this army's targets of opportunity. [ Read More ]

   

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  Va. schools prep for web-safety mandate
  As Virginia's schools prepare to incorporate internet safety lessons across all grade levels this fall to satisfy a landmark 2006 state law, educators are looking to schools that piloted web-safety curricula this past school year for guidance. [ Read More ]

   

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  One in four data breaches involves schools
  Cyber criminals are becoming bolder and more sophisticated in their operations, federal computer security experts say. And that's bad news for schools, because educational institutions reportedly account for approximately one of every four data security breaches. [ Read More ]

   

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  Senate bill aims to address web safety
  A new Senate bill would require schools receiving federal e-Rate funds to educate students about internet safety and block students' access to social-networking web sites or chat rooms unless supervised. [ Read More ]

   

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  IT Security: Aiming at a moving target
  Perhaps nowhere in K-12 education are decisions about network security more important than in the day-to-day activities of schools' technology administrators—the ed-tech specialists who work on the front lines, supporting and protecting not only their school districts' networks, but also the administrators, teachers, and students who engage the digital world. [ Read More ]

eSN Video

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  Online safety: Dispelling common myths
  At NECC 2008, a panel of internet safety experts agreed: Education is the best tool to keep kids safe online. [ Read More ]

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