Information Systems Security for the Special Educator

1. Information Systems Security for the Special Educator MGMT 636 – Information Systems Security

2. Overview • Awareness of information systems security in work and at home. • Basic understanding of security techniques that can be implemented in both the work environment and at home.

3. Legal Environment • FERPA • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act L.S. v. Mount Olive Board of Education (New Jersey) • 11th grade English class studying The Catcher in the Rye. • An assignment required students to create a psychological profile of the main character. • The teacher obtained a real psychological profile from the school’s psychologist to use as an example. • Even though the profile was redacted, a student deduced that the profile was his friend’s psychological profile.

4. Legal Environment • FERPA • L.S. v. Mount Olive Board of Education (New Jersey) • The court ruled that the teacher and the school’s psychologist could be personally sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Civil action for deprivation of rights. • Extreme case due to negligence.

5. Work Computing Environment • District and school policies concerning information systems security. • Know your data. • Schools provide protection infrastructure. • Firewalls to protect networked computers. • School assumes risk in case of a security breach, unless negligence is found.

6. Protecting Your Computer • Password protect your computer. • Lock computer when away. • Use username and password to login. • Do not share password or accounts. • Do not allow others use your computer while you are logged in. • Someone could e-mail parents, students, your boss.

7. Protect Your Files • MS Office: 2010 offers AES 128-bit advanced encryption. • iWork offers encryption. • File encryption software. • Third party software. • Requires being able to add software to computer.

8. Encryption • Benefits • “Scrambles data” making it unusable in it’s encrypted state. • Downfalls • Forgotten password. • Business continuity.

9. Password Construction • In order to understand solid password creation, it is important to understand the three basic techniques to “crack” a password.

10. Three Basic File Hacking Techniques • Shoulder surfing and social engineering. • Brute force attack. • A properly designed password can make this technique take a million years to crack. • Dictionary attack. • Avoid common words and combinations. • Avoid common password security techniques. • i=!, i=1, a=@, and etcetera.

11. Password Construction • The longer the better. • What is a bit and what does it mean? • Using a passphrase. “and she's climbing the stairway to heaven”

12. Password Construction The Next Level • Multi-Factor Authentication • Goes beyond username and password. • Requires additional information that only the user would know (knowledge factor). • Increases security. Used by banks and credit reporting agencies. • Questions such as “Name of your first pet” or “Name of company that holds your home mortgage”.

13. Taking Work Home • Risk transference. • You are now responsible for data security. • Does this violate security policies? • Transportation of data. • Flash Drive • SanDisk Cruzer offers software to encrypt the entire flash drive (SanDisk Secure Access). • E-Mail: Not highly secure on its own. • Laptop: Whole device could be stolen.

14. Home Networking Security The firewall is the first line of defense. • Decent router with firewall. • Wi-Fi with good encryption protocols and a strong password.

15. Personal Devices Risks • Text messaging. • E-mail. • Loss of device or laptop. • Password protect entire device. • Google’s pattern lock.

16. Questions? Questions?