No Cybersecurity Practices At Hinsdale D86 Before 2019: Official

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 had no cybersecurity practices in place before 2019, an official said last week.

At a school board meeting, Chief Information Officer Keith Bockwoldt said a significant malware attack occurred in the district in February 2019, a month after he started.

Shortly after Bockwoldt's first day, he said he got the district to buy cybersecurity insurance. That paid off when the attack happened, he said.

The district also had no email security in place before 2019, Bockwoldt said.

"I recall on the first week I was here, (the principals) told me that people were sending out emails looking they were coming from them," Bockwoldt said during a presentation about technology services. "We put some practices in place to stop it."

He said District 86 was on a list of organizations that were easy for hackers to attack.

"Emails accounts were hacked daily – both student and staff email accounts," he said.

Since, the district has taken a number of steps for email security, including regular password changes, response plans, timeout settings on business-sensitive applications and protection of storage infrastructure from ransomware.

He also showed before-and-after photos that demonstrate how rooms that were full of tangled wires and cables were reorganized.

"I was in the ceilings with the guys," Bockwoldt said. "I've built a rapport with the staff. We call it 'wiring Fridays.'"

On those days, he said, "my hands were dirty. When you build rapport with staff and get down and dirty with them, they respect (you) for it, and we built a lot of respect with the team. All they keep saying is 'don't leave' to me. It's gratifying to hear. I have a great team."

Also at last week's school board meeting, members unanimously voted for a new two-year contract for Bockwoldt, with a salary of $192,642 and an effective date of July 1, 2023. That's an increase from $180,935 in the 2021-2022 budget year.

Board President Erik Held said Bockwoldt has moved the district from a "run-to-failure model into something we can be proud to look at."

"Keith has done an outstanding job in transforming the district's IT capabilities," Held said.