Prof. Daniel Schwarcz Quoted in Wired About School Cyberattack Study

Professor Daniel Schwarcz was quoted in Wired about the response of K–12 school officials following cyberattacks in which student and parent data were stolen. An analysis chronicling more than 300 school cyberattacks over the past five years reveals the degree to which school leaders in virtually every state repeatedly provide false assurances to students, parents, and staff about the security of their sensitive information. At the same time, consultants and lawyers steer “privileged investigations” that keep key details hidden from the public. Prof. Schwarcz wrote a 2023 report for the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology criticizing the confidentiality and doublespeak that shroud school cyberattacks as soon as the lawyers — often called breach coaches — arrive on the scene. He said, “There’s a fine line between misleading and, you know, technically accurate. What breach coaches try to do is push right up to that line — and sometimes they cross it.”