Kare11
School data breaches prompt questions from lawmakers
Cybersecurity panel seeks more information on how school online defenses were penetrated, and how to prevent more breaches.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The battle to protect private information held by schools will require more coordination and more help from the legislature.
That was the overriding message from those who testified Monday at a meeting of the Legislative Commission on Cybersecurity, a joint House-Senate panel dedicated to fending off ransomware and other online attacks against government agencies.
Rep. Kristin Bahner, the Maple Grove Democrat who co-chairs the committee, said as other entities have tightened cyber defenses educational institutions have become more of a target for hackers and digital thieves.
“If those folks realize they might be a more vulnerable target, they are going to go after them. And I think you’re seeing that reflected in those cybersecurity insurance premiums going up,” Rep. Bahner told reporters.
“Schools just don’t have the dollars or the resources to be able to do that effectively on their own, so we want to share and collaborate a little more, and that’s something we’re working on very hard here in Minnesota.”
In 2023 alone, several high-profile data breaches put students, parents and employees on edge. School districts in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester have all reported online incursions in to databases. The University of Minnesota and Minn. Dept. of Education have also disclosed cyberattacks and offered credit-monitoring help for those affected.
“Most districts lack the capacity to hire dedicated cybersecurity staff, which is exacerbated by the workforce shortages,” Anthony Padrnos, the executive director of technology for the Osseo Public Schools, told lawmakers.
He quoted a report from the K12 Security Information eXchange which found 1,619 cyber incidents in public schools across the United States from 2016 through 2022, including 32 in Minnesota. He stressed these are only the attacks that are publicly disclosed, which are only a fraction of actual attempts by hackers to breach school systems.
Padrnos said districts are sharing information with each other about common threats, but Minnesota doesn’t have a central agency dedicated solely to cyber defense in school settings.
“Given the interconnected nature of districts, a lack of statewide communication leaves IT leaders scrambling for information during events.”
Mario McHenry, who leads technology services for St. Paul Public Schools, said the district’s cost of cybersecurity insurance has shot up across the past few years.
“There’s been almost a 98 percent increase in our premiums. And we think it’s important to carry that insurance,” McHenry said. “This is where the legislature can help.”
Bernard Gulachek, who serves as vice president and chief information officer at the University of Minnesota, also recommended a larger role for the state to play in helping institutions secure their data.
“Securing information requires high levels of technology, and the people to do the work,” Gulachek told the panel.
“The university will continue to need state assistance to fund such improvements and we will prepare a request as part of the university’s normal legislative request process.”
Gulachek walked lawmakers through the 2021 data breach of the University’s Legacy Data Warehouse that was not discovered until 2023.
“These files did not contain Social Security numbers, but contained student admissions data as well as race and ethnicity data,” Gulachek explained.
He said a pending lawsuit prevented him from going more deeply into the details at this time, but that the U of M has done all it can to warn those affected by the break and help with credit monitoring.
“We understand this incident has caused concern among the university community, and well beyond. That concern is not something we have taken lightly.”
The Cybersecurity Commission includes several IT experts, including Rep. Steve Elkins, a Bloomington Democrat who serves on several state and national cyber committees. He took the University of Minnesota representatives to task, suggesting they kept too much data on file and for too long.
“Why would you carry P.I.I. like that, that’s not necessary for managerial analysis in a data warehouse to begin with?” Elkins asked, referencing the acronym for personally identifiable information.
Gulachek said the U of M has changed its data collection and retention process over the years and the nature of cyber warfare has evolved. He pushed back against Elkins on the point about what information needs to be retained in a data warehouse.
“Data warehouses are managed differently depending upon the enterprise.”
State Legislative Auditor Judy Randall told the commission that government agencies are required to report all data incidents to her office. She said the majority of those are accidents by employees who e-mail nonpublic data to other employees without realizing it can’t be shared.
Randall said her office and Minnesota IT, the state’s online technology agency, have both encouraged government agencies to be careful to limit the types of information they retain and be selective about which employees can gain access to that data.
“Certainly, entities have good reasons to keep Social Security numbers, for example. But can you narrow how many places you’re keeping that and then can you anonymize it some way?”
It’s too early to know if the 2024 Legislature will come up with more money to help schools fend off cyberattacks, considering schools received a sizable increase in state aid last session. Either way, it’s clear lawmakers are watching closely and expecting more vigilance from educational institutions.
The former state trooper is charged with the killing of 18-year-old Olivia Flores.
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Editor’s Note: The above video first aired on 8/26/2024.
The former Minnesota State Patrol trooper charged with the killing of an 18-year-old girl is asking for his case to be dismissed and a change of venue for it to be moved out of Olmstead County.
The former trooper, Shane Roper, and his attorney argue that the “extensive and regional media coverage” jury pools are likely tainted and a fair trial could not be conducted in Olmstead County.
According to a criminal complaint, Roper was driving 83 miles an hour, full throttle with his lights and siren off when he sped through the busy Rochester intersection by the mall and slammed into 18-year-old Olivia Flores.
Records show he’d been suspended twice and reprimanded twice more for similar behavior.
The order from Roper’s attorney also asks the court to preclude the introduction of any evidence related to prior speeding or traffic incidents involving Roper.
Roper and his attorney are asking for charges 1-8 to be dismissed for “lack of probable cause.”
Kare11
‘This doesn’t change anything’ Biden apology for Native American boarding schools draws mixed reaction
For the very first time, a sitting President has apologized for boarding schools that tore Native Americans apart and led to countless cases of abuse and death.
MINNEAPOLIS — During his first presidential visit to Indian Country on Friday, Joe Biden delivered a historic and emphatic apology, acknowledging 150 years of abuse, trauma and death inflicted by Native American boarding schools.
“I formally apologize, as President of the United States of America, for what we did,” Biden said. “It’s one of the most horrific chapters in American history,” said President Biden.
Christine Diindiisi McCleave, former CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, spent years documenting the stories of boarding school survivors and advocating for justice and accountability by the US leaders.
“My family has two generations of boarding school history that I know of,” McCleave said, during an interview for the KARE 11 Series “Lost History,” which detailed the impact of boarding schools in Minnesota.
During his speech on Friday, President Biden acknowledged the work of the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and efforts to better understand the horrors and generational trauma the schools inflicted.
“Generations of Native children stolen, taken away to places they didn’t know,” Biden said. “Children abused emotionally, physically and sexually abused, forced into hard labor, some put up for adoption without the consent of their birth parents. Some left for dead in unmarked graves.”
Christine Diindiisi McCleave: “I struggle with what I’m supposed to say and what I really feel.”
Kent Erdahl: “Why do you say that?”
McCleave: “Well, because today is historic and while I am grateful to see this progress being made. I am also realizing just how short it falls… from real reparations, from real healing.”
She knows she’s not the only one who feels that way. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition surveyed survivors in 2016.
“The thing they wanted the least was an apology because, while it is an acknowledgement, it doesn’t change anything,” McCleave said. “The majority of them said they wanted a truth commission. Trying to find out exactly how many boarding schools existed, how many children went to those boarding schools and how many children died at those schools.”
She says an investigation led by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose grandparents and mother were among those sent to these schools did help better understand that impact, but it only scratched the surface.
“They were only able to investigate the Federal Government’s records,” McCleave said. “Half of these schools were run by churches, of various denominations, and so a truth commission would be able to look into those records as well.”
“Nearly one thousand documented Native child deaths, though the real number is likely to be much, much higher,” Biden said on Friday.
Bills in both the House and the Senate could make that commission a reality, but until that happens, Christine says she can’t ignore the politics of an apology that took place in a swing state, just days before an election.
McCleave: “This apology doesn’t change anything for my mother, who was abused as a child. Of for my grandfather who was a abused at a Catholic Indian Boarding School.”
Erdahl: “Do you hope that this isn’t just an election ploy?”
McCleave: “I hope that this apology actually helps that bill get passed. Native American people are no stranger to being political pawns, so you know what, if this is an election ploy so be it, I hope something good comes out of it.”
Researchers spoke about increased THC potency and the impact on youth brain development.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Whether purchased from dealer or dispensary, weed has become more potent over the years. In 2022, the federal government reported THC levels more than tripled since 1995.
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Graduate School addressed this Friday at its first cannabis summit. Attendees primarily included the nonprofit’s graduate students as well as undergraduate students from nearby universities.
Speakers included researchers from the University of Minnesota, Hamline University, Mitchell Hamline School of Law and others.
Ken C. Winters, is a senior scientist at the Oregon Research Institute’s Minnesota location and a consultant for the University of Iowa’s Native Center for Behavioral Health.
He covered the interplay between youth, cannabis and health.
“It’s not your grandparents’ marijuana these days,” Winters said to the students.
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation Graduate school offers a 2-year program, in which students like John Ryan and William Barksdale are earning counseling degrees in substance use and mental health.
“The takeaway would be that you’ve seen potency levels increase quite a bit, and the research is trying to keep pace with that,” Barksdale said.
“As we saw today, marijuana use has gone up in the last couple years such that it’s eclipsed alcohol use in terms of daily users in the United States,” Ryan added. “It’s is much more concerning now because there is such a higher degree of potency that’s available on a wider basis.”
Ryan says it’s especially concerning for youth.
“The subject of the last presentation, which I found quite engaging, was the specific effects on adolescents,” he said. “So, teenagers and people within that young adult range, the 18 to 25-year-olds because that’s generally the period the most brain development takes place. So that’s the area of concern … but it’s still something that I think is being studied and being observed in the first stages of that.”
Kevin Doyle provided opening remarks. He has more than 35 years of experience as a licensed professional counselor. Today, he’s president and CEO of the grad school.
“Potency, dosage, frequency of use, availability, legal cutoffs in terms of age, all those things need to be talked about,” Doyle said. “Adolescent brain development. We know more and more about that every year. Sometimes it seems like every day we learn more about that.”
“How do we as a treatment community need to be prepared to respond?”
The summit comes as Minnesota works to set rules for the cannabis industry after legalizing the drug for recreational use last year. A public comment period is expected later this fall.
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