As students head back to school, Contrast Security customers are getting ready for more sophisticated cyberattacks. Dark Reading published a feature on the growing risks facing K-12 schools.
The article highlights today’s reality: most school districts’ security postures fall short of what’s needed to withstand today’s attacks. Contrast Security CTO Jeff Williams and Martha Gamez-Smith, Information Security Officer at Texas Computer Cooperative’s Education Service Center - Region 20 (ESC-20), were both interviewed on how schools can better prepare.
For Martha, the mission is personal. She’s responsible for defending the applications that educators and students rely on every day, and she sees firsthand how adversaries are evolving.
Customer Spotlight: Martha Gamez-Smith’s Frontline Perspective
Gamez-Smith doesn’t mince words about the changing nature of threats against schools:
“[Attackers will] sit for a while and see how [the schools] do business, and then elevate their trajectory into the application,” she told Dark Reading.
It’s not just about phishing anymore. Several studies, including the Verizon DBIR, have concluded that applications are now the #1 entry point for an attack. Adversaries are patient. They observe. Then, they target the heart of the school’s digital environment, the applications where sensitive data lives and learning takes place.
That escalation makes Martha’s work critical. In many districts, leaders and superintendents juggle multiple roles and often underestimate how exposed their systems really are. Martha is pushing back against that complacency, advocating for stronger security practices and ensuring ESC-20 is better prepared to respond when, not if, an attack occurs.
How Contrast Helps
ESC-20 is a Contrast customer, and Martha is using Contrast to strengthen application security where it matters most: inside the apps themselves. By detecting and blocking attacks in real time, Contrast helps her safeguard learning continuity. Teachers can keep teaching, students can keep learning and administrators can focus on education instead of scrambling in the aftermath of an incident.
Why It Matters for K-12 School Leaders
- Threats are evolving: Attacks are no longer just quick phishing emails; they’re campaigns that pivot into applications.
- Preparedness is uneven: Many schools lack clear plans or rely on leaders with competing responsibilities.
- Applications are the new frontline: Protecting apps and APIs is essential to keeping classrooms running.
Gamez-Smith is a powerful example of how K-12 security leaders are stepping up to defend education. By combining thoughtful planning with modern security tools, she’s helping protect teachers, students, and staff from increasingly sophisticated adversaries.
Read the full Dark Reading article here: Without Preparedness, K-12 School Incident Plans Fall Short
