Today’s hot parental topic in Halifax, is about hacking and the lack of transparency a local school took when they were hacked in April.
Two months ago, the school board discovered the website of Cole Harbour District High School had been hacked. Someone calling themselves Sejeal had left an image of a burning Israeli flag with the words, ‘Memorial of Gaza Martyrs.’
The actual message was never seen by the public and the school board said information like passwords etc. did not get hit. Comforting when they say probably right?
Teachers at Cole Harbour District High School were informed about the breach but the Halifax Regional School Board decided not to tell students or parents.
“We felt that there was no need to cause any alarm and cause panic,” said Gerard Costard, the co-ordinator of information technology at the Halifax Regional School Board.
Again, what is it with large organizations thinking it is best to keep things hidden? It is all going to come out at some point and then you look like you are trying to hide something.
People want transparency. Yes, the security hole has been since fixed but a public institution like this should keep the students and parents in the loop. What if information was compromised? People need to know that.
Personally, I would want to know. Even if it was a short message the day after or when the problem was solved. Sounds a lot worse hearing about it on CBC news. Keep in touch with parents and keep them in the loop and a trust would be formed. Keeping information like this from parents, just makes it seem like something is being hidden, or even someone is not doing their job.
Stop trying to save face and be open.
Lately whether it is the Canadian Government, the Mayor of Toronto or even Major League Baseball, there is a lot of secret stuff going on that we just want to know the truth. It is all going to come out eventually, so why not get ahead of it and control the story?
So as a parent, if your kid’s school website was hacked, would you want to know? Do you think it is something the parents should be informed of even if nothing was affected?
Let us know in the comments.
I had not heard this. I would want and expect the school to inform me if something like this happened.
Things happen. Giant companies get hacked. Just be open with it and people will be less likely to look at it as a negative and just appreciate the head’s up. As long as it was fixed and is no longer an issue, I am fine. But when I hear that the news dug it up, it comes off as the school board trying to hide something, then leads me to thinking, what else are they hiding.