News and Blog

What is MFA? MFA is a technology that considerably increases security of an authentication process. An authentication process is the process of logging in into a service or a portal or website. MFA makes this process more secure by adding another control that is harder to compromise for an attacker.…

One of the world’s most popular sandbox games is proving to be the ideal platform to Ontario students to learn about cybersecurity. The Minecraft Education Cybersecurity Challenge was launched by the Ontario Federation of School Esports Association (OFSEA) in March 2023, inviting student teams in grades 5 through 8 to…

As with any membership-based organization, ECNO has long been powered by its dedicated volunteers. From providing governance on the Board to sharing strategic insight on the ECNO Advisory Committee (EAC), reviewing apps under the Vetting Applications for Safety and Privacy (VASP) program, or as an ECNO conference coordinator, many willing…

Building ECNO’s new strategic plan: A conversation with Wayne Toms, Executive Director, and Brian McKay, President, Board of Directors What was the process of developing the new strategic plan? WT: We started in March 2022 with a day-long discussion with the Joint Committee (Board and ECNO Advisory Committee). This was…

Sharp-eyed members will notice a few changes to the ECNO logo of late. In December, we updated our brand to best position the organization to tackle the goals of the new strategic plan, which will be launched to members in January 2023. The strategic plan sets a bold path forward,…

In the early days of the pandemic, as school boards adapted to virtual learning, a team of IT, Privacy and Supply Chain Management experts from across the province was working night and day to ethically hack dozens of online applications. The objective is twofold; to safeguard student personal privacy information…

When Gina Coish started working in education, online privacy was not on the radar. In the 30 years before her official ‘retirement’ this year (more on that later) it became the defining focus of her career. “I worked in practically every department,” Gina says of her early years with the…

ECNO is proud to have led a successful K-12 Cyber Awareness Month campaign (October 1st-31st, 2021) in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Education. For the second year in a row, ECNO was able to educate faculty, students, and their families of the importance of staying safe online. With the…

A solution to enable virtual learning during the pandemic has become a permanent step away from desktop computers and into cloud computing at one Ontario school board, with other boards likely to follow suit given the equity, convenience and potential savings realized. Using sophisticated software programs such as AutoCAD and…

For most people who work in K-12, summer brings a sense of relaxation and relief from the day-to-day stresses that we have seen over the past 10 months particularly during this extraordinary COVID-19 school year. Although we can let our hair down on some things, cyber security is something that…