The Breakdown- Episode Archive:

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  Default to Isolation in K-12: Lessons in Cybersecurity Leadership

  “We certainly use the least privilege access control. So far so good. Also network segmentation.” That is how Mark Parsons summarizes the heartbeat of Inter-Lakes School District’s network posture. Chapter 5 of the K-12 Cybersecurity Framework calls this move “default to isolation,” a shift from trusting the internal network to allowing only what you explicitly…

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  AI-Powered Cyber Attacks and What’s Changed for K-12 Leaders in the Last 6 Weeks

  As schools opened their doors in September 2025, the cybersecurity landscape shifted beneath our feet. While educators were starting to explore the wonderful things AI can do in the classroom, a Chinese state-sponsored group was demonstrating what AI can do in the hands of attackers. In mid-September, Anthropic (Claude.ai) detected and disrupted a sophisticated espionage…

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  Cyber Leadership Essentials: Cyber Hygiene that Works in K-12

  Caroline Lightfoot still remembers the first time Dickinson ISD tried to push a security control that touched every classroom. “MFA has been one of the easiest to implement,” she told us. “Our dedicated networking team took a very hands-on approach. They made it a priority to train each campus staff during faculty meetings.” Every teacher,…

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  The Geometry of Gratitude: Veterans’ Day 2025

  This weekend, I went to the Massachusetts National Cemetery to volunteer for Operation Flags for Vets. Since 2011, my husband (and sometimes family) and I volunteer together, placing flags on veterans’ graves or returning to collect them after holidays. It’s a tradition we’ve honored, done with care and reverence. But this time, it was just…

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  The K-12 Cybersecurity Threat Landscape

  If you’ve gone through any degree of cynbersecurity assessment, this is likely your experience: Once you have a snapshot of your current situation, how do you know what to do next? How do you compare to other schools or districts? And what should your highest priorities be. And then, how do you make any improvements…

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  Harborfields CSD – AI Workshop Resources

  Harborfields CSD  Date: November 4, 2025 SLIDES (PDF LINK) Welcome & Introductions KarAIoke Opening Challenge Learning Evolution: The New Era of AI in the Classroom Foundational AI Understanding Concerns & Roadmap Challenges around AI Bias Activity Deep Fakes/AI Literacy AI Literacy Challenge Responsible Use of AI Discussion/Reflection – Use of AI in the classroom Opportunities…

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  From Assessment to Action: A Practical Guide to K-12 Cybersecurity

  If you’ve gone through any degree of cynbersecurity assessment, this is likely your experience: Once you have a snapshot of your current situation, how do you know what to do next? How do you compare to other schools or districts? And what should your highest priorities be. And then, how do you make any improvements…

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  Student-First Security: Balancing Protection with Learning in K-12

  When Dickinson ISD Director of Technology Caroline Lightfoot describes her district’s approach to password resets, she captures the unique challenge of K-12 cybersecurity perfectly: “We know it’s a best practice to reset passwords regularly to improve security. However, because of the ‘students first’ approach, we’re not actually doing forced password resets for students in Pre-Kindergarten…

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  Growing Awareness, Practical Action: The K-12 Leadership & Cybersecurity Framework

  There’s a growing awareness among school and district leaders that cybersecurity isn’t just an IT issue. It’s a leadership issue. Every part of school operations now depends on technology, and when that technology is disrupted, so is learning. The K-12 Leadership & Cybersecurity Framework is an educator-led effort, built with input from IT and technology…

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  The TLDR Epidemic: When Reading Becomes Optional

  TLDR: We’re drowning in words but starving for attention. And it’s not just a personal shift. It’s a cultural one. Once upon a time, I read everything. Cereal boxes. Junk mail. The fine print on shampoo bottles. I inhaled books like oxygen. But six years ago, a series of strokes changed everything, damaging my optic…