When schools are targeted in cyberattacks, the work of mitigation and communication doesn’t rest with IT teams alone. It actually makes organizations more vulnerable if leaders beyond the IT department are not involved in cybersecurity, says Amy McLaughlin, cybersecurity project director for the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN).

“You cannot put all of this on one unit,” she says. Cybersecurity “requires a systemic approach in order to be successful.”

McLaughlin was scheduled to give presentations about cybersecurity at the 2020 CoSN conference, which was postponed and is now slated to be a virtual event in May. She talked with EdTech about ways K–12 administrators outside of IT can play a greater role in cybersecurity.