NBOA President and CEO
If you’ve watched the recent streaming hit “K-Pop Demon Hunters” – and I would wager those in schools would be more likely to have seen it than other adults – you may recall scenes where a purple cloud gathers over the sky. Next thing you know, hordes of soul-sucking demons flood out, which the multi-talented demon-hunter pop band must fight to save their city.
Not to overstate the case, but when I read — too regularly — about cyber-attacks on schools in the news, it sometimes feels like a purple cloud of cyber criminals is hovering in the sky, plotting the moment they will pounce on our schools’ sensitive data. Of course, cyber criminals don’t come from purple clouds, and we at NBOA are not demon hunters (or multihyphenates for that matter). However, we do have a new tool for you to add to your toolbox when it comes to strengthening your independent school’s cybersecurity.
NBOA has once again teamed up with the Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools (ATLIS) to release fully updated and expanded “Guidance on Cyber Insurance for Independent Schools.”
Available exclusively to NBOA and ATLIS members, this guidance addresses:
- new types of cyber incidents,
- the latest market trends in cyber insurance, and
- practical ways to mitigate risk at your independent school.
While cyber insurance may not be as hard to obtain as it once was — that is, for schools that take appropriate measures to prevent an attack — the extensive options warrant careful consideration in conjunction with your school’s technology leader.
This new guidance clearly lays out:
- what cyber insurance should cover,
- what red flags business leaders need to be aware of,
- checklists of what to look for in an agreement, and
- how to vet vendors, among other critical items.
If you’re new to this area, the guidance also includes definitions and additional resources to beef up on cybersecurity and associated risk mitigation.
My NBOA staff colleague Karen Volpi, NBOA’s director, finance and accounting programs, had this reflection about her personal experience handling a cyber breach: “I understand how unsettling and costly such incidents can be for a community. That experience made me especially appreciative of this collaborative cyber insurance guidance, created with ATLIS.” We urge every business officer to read it carefully and incorporate it into their risk management toolkit. Having this resource can give you greater confidence that you’re asking the right questions of insurers and protecting your school communities more effectively.
Those of us in independent school business operations may not have superpowers, but we can take reasonable mitigative steps to protect our schools from threats that seem to grow more common in our community every year. It's always a pleasure to collaborate with our fellow independent school associations to provide critical guidance in support of our members’ operational health. We hope this updated guidance empowers you to make informed decisions and protect your school’s financial and reputational integrity.
Follow NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields on LinkedIn.
