Plymouth-Canton Community Schools is committed to ensuring the online safety of our staff and students. This school year, P-CCS is partnering with KnowBe4 to enhance awareness around phishing scams. We will be utilizing KnowBe4’s training tools to empower our staff to recognize phishing scams and equip our Technology Department with tools to assess our current information security culture, identify areas of improvement, and equip every member of our community to safely navigate the ever-evolving landscape of information security.

What is KnowBe4?

KnowBe4 is the world’s first and largest security-awareness training and simulated phishing platform. More than 35,000 organizations around the world use KnowBe4 to raise awareness of threats to information security and train users to protect themselves and their institutions from those threats. KnowBe4 is highly reputable. In 2019 and 2020, the platform was named “Security Awareness Training Platform of the Year” by CyberSecurity Breakthrough (Tarantino 2020), “Education and Training Provider of the Year” by Network Computing (Tarantino 2020), and the winner of the Cyber Defense Magazine “Cyber Defense InfoSec Award” (Tarantino 2020)

How does KnowBe4 work?

KnowBe4 will provide staff with opportunities to identify common phishing email indicators and access concise training modules that contain crucial information on maintaining online security. It will allow P-CCS to run phishing simulations and easily track actual phishing attacks through a “Phish Alert Button” that is integrated into Gmail. Additionally, KnowBe4 will provide our Technology Department with analytical tools to understand our security culture and customize future training and communications according to the needs of the P-CCS staff.

Throughout the year, the P-CCS Technology Department will periodically launch simulated phishing attacks. Please view these simulations as learning experiences to enhance your digital safety, not only within our district but also on a personal level. If you encounter a suspicious email — characterized by elements such as poor grammar, unfamiliar sender addresses, spoofed institutional branding, or urgent requests — simply click the “Phish Alert Button” located on the right side of your district Gmail inbox. Once reported, it will be reviewed to see if it is malicious in nature and either discarded or returned to your inbox.

Next Steps for PCCS Staff:

1. Familiarize yourself with the “Phish Alert Button” in Gmail.
   
2. Stay vigilant for suspicious emails – watch out for poor grammar, unfamiliar sender addresses, spoofed institutional branding, or urgent requests.
3. If an email seems remotely suspicious, report it using the “Phish Alert Button”. This helps maintain the security of P-CCS staff and student information.
4. Always err on the side of caution – if you’re uncertain about the legitimacy of an email, report it using the Phish Alert Button. Emails that are found to be safe can and will be easily restored to your inbox.

If you have any questions regarding KnowBe4, please submit a tech ticket at helpdesk.pccsk12.com.

Been getting Emails like this? (If you have not been getting these emails you can ignore this blog post)

Update Apple ID

• Do you have a lot of app purchases or credit cards or photos or other data that you wish to keep? If YES, then you are going to want to update your apple ID to a different email address. You can use a personal email that isn’t already tied to an apple ID, create a new email to update your Apple ID to, or create an icloud email address to transfer your data.
• If you DO NOT have any app purchases or data you are concerned about keeping, you can ignore these emails and do nothing. After July 30, Apple will assign an icloud email address to you and send an email with the information to change your password. If you truly do not care about any data previously attached to your PCCS apple ID, you can again do nothing.

In the fall, more information will be coming out about how to log in to your managed apple ID and the benefits!

If you’d like more information on Managed Apple IDs, check this previous blog post.

Wayne RESA is offering a month of JOYFUL webinars in August. All who register will receive a recording of any session they sign up for. Check out the Summer Learning Blitz offerings here.

What is a “managed Apple ID”? 

Managed Apple IDs are special school-created and school-owned accounts that provide access to Apple services. Managed Apple IDs are designed to meet the privacy and security needs of schools, including limitations on purchasing and communications, and role-based administration.

Why is P-CCS choosing to move to Managed Apple IDs?

Moving to Managed Apple IDs provides additional features to staff, students, and families like

• Upgraded iCloud Storage. Managed Apple IDs receive 200GB of free iCloud storage and access to iCloud services. iCloud services include Shared iPad, iCloud Drive, Photos, Safari, Notes, News, Calendars, Reminders, and Backup. This means staff and families can access data like voice memos, photos, and more from any web browser!
• Apple Classroom. Class rosters created in Apple School Manager are automatically available for teachers in Apple Classroom! This allows teachers to use Apple Classroom to force open an app, view student screens, and more directly from their device all without manually rostering their own students!
• iWork, Schoolwork, and other apps become available for staff/student use

Who will this affect? 

This change will affect anyone who has created an apple ID using their @pccsk12.com email address. This will mainly be for Y5/K and 1st grade teachers with district iPads, but could also affect you if you ever created an apple ID using your P-CCS email address.

When will this happen? 

The district plans to move to managed Apple IDs on May 31, 2023. From that date, you will have 60 days to choose a different email address to preserve any current apps and data attached to your @pccsk12.com apple ID.

What do I need to do? 

When you receive notification that P-CCS has claimed the “Pccsk12.com” domain, you will be given directions on how to change your email address to preserve any data/purchases attached to your P-CCS apple ID. If you do nothing, in 60 days apple will assign you an apple ID with all your data and purchases attached to it.

How will I login to my managed Apple ID? 

Your new managed Apple ID will be associated with your district email account. When prompted to login to your device, type in your district email, and then you will be prompted to login to Google to finish up the authentication.

If you have any questions about Managed Apple IDs, please put in a tech request for “technology integration” at helpdesk.pccsk12.com