Internet Security
The recent passage of the New York State Education Law on Internet Safety and Appropriate Use (Ed Law Section 814 | PDF 
(8KB)) requires a better education of students for safe and appropriate use of Internet technology and resources.
Reframing the Debate on Online Safety 
The U.S. Senate recently passed the Protecting the Children for
21st Century Act, which focuses on the educational strategies rather
than locking up the access. The learning community represented by ISTE
applauds the Senate's new focus on education for online safety.
Children’s Internet Protection Act
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is a federal law enacted
by Congress in December 2000 to address concerns about offensive content
over the Internet on school and library computers. CIPA imposes certain
requirements on any school and library that receive support through the “E-rate” program.
Some of the requirements are: to implement a filtering policy to block
inappropriate materials on the Internet, to monitor online activities
of minors, and to protect security of minors in any form of electronic
communications, and prevent unauthorized access (so called “hacking”).
NYS Cyber-Security Annual Conference
Each October, the NYS Office of Cyber-Security and Critical Infrastructure
Coordination holds a conference on Kids Safe Online. NYSED is
a member of the coordinating committee for this conference. CSCIC
also compiles a list of resources for kids, parents, and teachers that
deal with online issues.
The State of School Security
A recent article from the T.H.E. Journal highlighted a survey
study, "Research: Benchmarks for School Safety" (July 2007),
conducted of 381 public school district IT and security directors by
CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), with focus on the areas of "cyber
safety" as well as physical safety. In the article, there are key findings from
the survey study and key resources identified to address the challenges
of planning, developing and implementing effective security and safety
strategies in K-12 schools.
Assessing School Security
How safe is your school? And what does it mean to be safe, anyway? CDW-G
conducted a survey of schools using the school safety index survey and
found a variety of vulnerabilities--some as a result of inadequate electronic
safeguards but even more as a result of inadequate human safeguards, such
as limited budgets, lack of resources, or insufficient training of staff
and students. In many cases, schools were unaware of just how vulnerable
they were. CDW-G hopes that using the School Safety Index--with sections
on cyber security and physical security--will help to remedy that.
For Administrators and Technology Directors
- Safeguarding the
Wired Schoolhouse
This program is the latest initiative from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), designed to help school leaders understand their technological options for managing the content students access over the Internet.
- Cyber Security
for the Digital District
This web-site offers helpful resources for District level leadership such as Self-Assessment Checklist, and Cyber Security Planning Protocol.
- Web
Wise Kids
This web-site provides a useful list of statistics on cyber security and Internet safety.
- NetFamilyNews.org:
Kid-Tech News for Parents
This web-site provides a weekly newsletter that covers online safety, new educational resources, research on Internet use, and Internet policies.
- National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
This web site provides Internet, safety-education resources for children (5-17), parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement.
For Teachers
- Kids
Privacy
This web-site is particularly informative on Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
- Web
Wise Kids
This web-site provides a useful list of statistics on cyber security and Internet safety.
- NetFamilyNews.org:
Kid-Tech News for Parent
This web-site provides a weekly newsletter that covers online safety, new educational resources, research on Internet use, Internet policies.
- National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
This web site provides Internet, safety-education resources for children (5-17), parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement.
For Librarians and Media Specialists
- American
Library Association (ALA)
The ALA compiled comprehensive information about The Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Frequently asked questions and answers, articles from related professional associations, and legal history are available from this web site
- American
Library Association (ALA) - Network Security
The issues of privacy and network security are intertwined. Libraries have to take on the challenges to secure their networks and protect users’ privacy. Resources on library network security are available from this web site
- Balance between Internet Security and Intellectual Freedom
Relating to the CIPA, NY Library Association (NYLA) states a commitment to Intellectual Freedom.
For Parents
- Get Net Wise
This web-site provides information about on-line safety tools such as filtering inappropriate web-sites, monitoring children’s web-browsing, and setting a time limit on Internet use. In the middle of this page, you can use a database to find suitable tools for individual family conditions.
- NetFamilyNews.org:
Kid-Tech News for Parents
This web-site provides a weekly newsletter that covers online safety, new educational resources, research on Internet use, Internet policies.
- National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
This web site provides Internet, safety-education resources for children (5-17), parents, guardians, educators, and law enforcement.