Cybertraps for Educators

Cybertraps for Educators

The Professional Perils of 24/7 Electronic Communication

Frederick S. Lane

www.FrederickLane.com

Cybertraps.wordpress.com

Alaska Society for Technology in Education

Anchorage, AK22 February 2014

Background and Expertise• Attorney and Author of

7 Books• Impact of Technology

on Law, Society & Privacy

• Computer Forensics Expert -- 15 years

• Numerous Lectures to School Districts, Administrators, Teachers, PTOs & PTAs, and Students

• 10 yrs on Burlington VT School Boardwww.FrederickLane.co

mCybertraps.wordpress.com

Lecture Overview• Headache-Inducing Headlines• Technology and Teaching• The Death of Privacy• Workplace Cybertraps• Cyber Assaults on Teachers• Cyber Assaults on Students• Precautions, Litigation, and

Forensicswww.FrederickLane.co


Headache-Inducing Headlines

• “Parents Sue School District After Their 13-Year-Old's Suicide Following Sexting Bullying” – Hillsborough Cty., Florida• “Parents sue Lockhart school district after teacher charged with sexual assault” – Lockhart, TX• “School Cyberbullying Victims Fight Back In Lawsuits” – WV, PA, GA• “School Employees Sue Cyberbullying Students” – TX, PAwww.FrederickLane.co


A Tangled Mobile Web



Technology and Teaching

• Why Is Your Teacher Calling?• Anywhere, Any Time

Communication• The Cloud Has No Boundaries• It’s a Generational Thing• The Creeping Leprosy of

Good Intentions



The Death of Privacy

• Are Teachers Entitled to a Private Life?

• Opinions and Commentary• Perils of Social Media• Sexually Explicit Photos and

Risque 2nd Jobs• Past or Current Adult Industry

Work• Prostitution



Workplace Cybertraps

• Cyberloafing / Productivity• Inappropriate or Hostile

Communications• Hostile Work Environments• Illegal Online Activity

(Particuarly Child Pornography)

• Mishandling of Student Sextswww.FrederickLane.co


Cyber Assaults on Teachers

• Online Reports of Bad Behavior

• Hacking and Computer Trespass

• Cyberbullyng, Cyberharassment & Cyberstalking

• Cyberbaiting & “YouTubing”• Impersonation and Identity

Theftwww.FrederickLane.co


Cyber Assaults on Students

• Cyberbullyng, Cyberharassment & Cyberstalking

• Identity Theft• Inappropriate Texts and

Social Media Posts• Voyeurism and Invasion of

Privacy• Solicitation, Sexting &

Assaultwww.FrederickLane.co


Teacher Precautions

• THINK!!• Choose Your Friends

Carefully• Students Are Not Your

Friends• Be a Role Model for Good

Online Behavior• Be an Advocate for Good

District Policieswww.FrederickLane.com


District Precautions

• Plan Ahead• Good Policies and Clear

Procedures• Educate the Entire

Community About These Issues

• Network with Unions, Law Enforcement, and Legislatures

• Rinse and Repeatwww.FrederickLane.co


Pre-Incident Preparation

• Policies and Procedures• District Decisions re Access, Services, Storage• AUPs for Staff and Students• Data Handling and Response Protocols

• Professional Development for Teachers and Staff• Typically First Responders• Potential Legal Risks• Technology Is Continually Changing

• Student Education• Critical Component of K-12 Curricula



E-Evidence Is Everywhere

• Inventory Possible Devices• Computers (Desktops, Laptops, Servers)

• Mobile Devices (Phones, Tablets)

• Peripherals (USBs, CDs, external drives, etc.)

• Inventory Possible Types of Data• Communication (E-Mail, IMs, Texts, etc.)

• Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)

• Web Activity (URLs, cookies, bookmarks, etc.)

• Network Logs and Access Data

• Cloud Storage (Dropbox, Flickr, Boxy, etc.)

• Deleted Datawww.FrederickLane.co


Whose Data Is It Anyway?

• Where Did the Incident Occur?• On-Campus vs. Off-Campus

• Zone of District Responsibility Is Growing

• Who Owns and Uses the Device?• Misconduct Using School-Owned Equipment

• Misconduct Using Privately-Owned Equipment

• Who Runs the Service?• Evidence Hosted by District

• Evidence Created by Teachers/Students

• Evidence Hosted by 3rd Partieswww.FrederickLane.co


Response to Civil Litigation

• Preservation of Potentially Relevant Evidence• Adherence to Established Policies for

Handling Data• Notice of Litigation or Reasonable

Anticipation of Litigation

• Discovery Requests• Privacy Concerns• Burdensomeness of Requests• Production of Data Held by 3rd Parties



Response to Criminal Activity

• Anticipate Prosecution and/or Disciplinary Proceedings• Adherence to Policy/Process Is Critical• Involve Law Enforcement ASAP

• Protect and Preserve Data• Restrict Access to Potentially Relevant

Data• Hire a Computer Forensics Expert?• Some Evidence Is Radioactive



Computer Forensics 101

• Field Previews• Acquisition & Mirror Images• Some Data Are More Fragile Than

Others• Speed Is Of the Essence• Powerful Forensics Tools• Data Recovery and Analysis• IP Addresses Link to Real World• 4th Amendment and Privacy

Concernswww.FrederickLane.co


Risks for Admins. & Teachers

• Good Intentions, Bad Outcome• “Sherlock Holmes” Syndrome• Forwarding Content for Advice

• The Cover-Up Is Always Worse• Trying to Protect Colleagues and Friends• Desire to Protect District by Handling In-

House• “Delete” Is a Myth



A Cautionary Tale• Ting-Yi Oei, now 64• Assistant Principal at

Freedom HS in So. Riding, VA (Loudoun County)

• Told to investigate rumors of sexting at HS

• “Inappropriate” image was forwarded to Oei’s cellphone, then computer

• Charged with “failure to report,” then contributing to delinquency of a minor

• Charges ultimately dismissed



Cyberethics for Educators

• Pre-Certification Training• Standards of Electronic Behavior

and Teacher-Student Interaction• Promoting Sound Decision-

Making Online and Off• Modeling Cyberethical Behavior

for Students• Educating Cyber Citizens for 21st

Centurywww.FrederickLane.co


Current Projects• Cybertraps for Educators

(2014)• Safe Student and School

Employee Relationships (2014)• Informational Web Sites:• www.FrederickLane.com• www.ComputerForensicsDigest.

com• www.CybertrapsfortheYoung.co

m



http://www.fredericklane.com/

http://www.computerforensicsdigest.com/

http://www.computerforensicsdigest.com/

http://www.cybertrapsfortheyoung.com/

http://www.cybertrapsfortheyoung.com/

Contact Information

• E-Mail:• [email protected]

• Telephone:• 802-318-4604

• Twitter• @Cybertraps, @FSL3

• LinkedIn:• www.linkedin.com/in/fredericklane/

• SlideShare.net• www.slideshare.net/FSL3www.FrederickLane.co


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.linkedin.com/in/fredericklane/

http://www.slideshare.net/FSL3

Cybertraps for Educators

The Professional Perils of 24/7 Electronic Communication

Frederick S. Lane



Alaska Society for Technology in Education

Anchorage, AK22 February 2014