Rhode Island Will Be the First State in the Nation to Protect Students at K-12 Schools with Key Cybersecurity Tool

White House National Cyber Director Harry Coker, Jr. joined officials from across Rhode Island to announce that every K-12 public school in Rhode Island would be protected by a free, effective cyber service that will better protect the data and systems of their schools by the end of the 2024-25 school year. 64 school districts from across Rhode Island signed a pledge to implement Protective Domain Name Service (PDNS), an important cybersecurity tool that helps prevent ransomware and other cyber attacks by preventing computer systems from connecting to harmful websites and other dangerous areas of the internet. Thanks to funding from the federal government, PDNS services are free to K-12 public school districts and libraries across the nation. This announcement will bring an additional layer of security to approximately 136,000 students across Rhode Island.