Protecting the piecemeal server.

A resourceful student is unhappy with his grade. Rather than ask for help or extra credit assignments, he puts his burgeoning intellect to use in another, more nefarious way, hacking his way into the district's network and changing his grade.

While this scenario used to be a type of apocryphal story that circulates in every school, it's a real concern today for school IT directors, says Steven E. Miller, project director for CoSN's Cyber Security for the Digital District.

Most school districts set up computer networks in a piecemeal fashion, leaving it susceptible to attacks from viruses and hackers. Miller says districts don't have may choice but to install networks in this manner. "It is the only way they can afford to do it," he says.

Only very large districts or small, well-financed districts can afford to put in an entire computer network, where every component speaks the same language. Therefore, Miller says it is imperative for strictures to be put in place to protect both the network and its users.

Miller advocates a four-part plan for districts to keep their networks and information safe:

* Make sure the system is serving the legitimate needs of its users and adding value to the educational process. "If your users don't see you as a good part of their work, you are lost from the beginning," Miller says.

* Build a "community of trust" so that people understand the benefits of using passwords and keeping the network secure.

* Conduct a network security audit. "Inventory what you are trying to prevent, how your network is vulnerable to it and where the threat" might come from, Miller says.

* Implement the audit's findings once completed through regular system maintenance.

Yet, IT officials understand that all the precautions, both technical and administrative, never eliminate the likelihood of a problem, Miller says. "The bottom line is that you can never be 100 percent secure. This is about risk management, not risk elimination."