Server crashes and blocked websites are one of many frustrating problems with the school’s technology, and so far they are not letting up.
Since last year, NEISD has updated the Kaspersky anti-virus software, and has reset the servers and proxies due to consistent and frustrating crashes nearing the end of the 2010-2011 school year, a direct result from students using the school broadband network for their personal laptops, iPods, and phones.
“If you asked any kid last year, they could tell you the Wi-Fi password,” head librarian Marcy Lindsey said. “Soon, repeated use of these devices brought viruses that spread; school-wide, then district-wide.”
Because of this, the Wi-Fi network key is under solid protection, and as an added bonus, it is changed and servers are reset every two weeks. The crashes and problems were not a result of an intended attack, but rather a lack of security.
“No, I don’t think it was malicious,” Lindsey said. “It’s just how one child starts coughing then you’ll start coughing, things go around.”
The problems that the school has hit in the beginning of the school year will be fixed as time goes by. Wherever, constantly evolving nature of technology makes it difficult for schools to keep up.
“Technology is always changing,” Dan Owen said, a technology supervisor for NEISD. “And for that reason we’re always updating.”
