FCPS Strengthens Data Privacy Measures

The school has contracted with Janus Associates, IT Security Firm.

 

Frederick, MD  (LG)  Frederick County Public Schools are working in conjunction with Janus Associates to strengthen their data privacy measures.

“Last July the Board of Education approved a new policy related to data privacy.  It was meant to strengthen data privacy measures, and to ensure that FCPS was consistently taken steps to make sure that our student data was as secure as possible,” said Communications Director Michael Doerrer.

Frederick County Public Schools’ system was the victim of a data breach last year. The breach compromised the personal data of approximately 1,000 students who attended FCPS between November 2005 and November 2006. The hacked information included names, social security numbers and dates of birth.

“This month we provided an update to the board, kind of a quarterly report on the steps that we’ve taken. Some of the steps include a RFP which was awarded to Janus to help us test our data security and strengthen our measures related to data privacy,” he continued.

In addition, FCPS has released an annually required training module for all staff to reinforce the importance of information securit awareness and to promote appropriate data privacy practices system-wide.

-Loretta Gaines