How Connecticut’s CIO helps ‘needy’ schools

Connecticut Chief Information Officer Mark Raymond says that the Connecticut Education Network saves the state $30 million annually, by providing educational resources to schools districts that would be far more costly if they bought them on their own. Part of the network’s job is to provide security tools and technology learning resources, such as activities that help kids learn about distributed denial-of-service cyberattacks. Given a chance to flex their skills in simulated cyberattacks, he says, kids can prove quite creative. “Kids are really creative in launching DDOS attacks against their schools, especially when there’s tests they don’t want to take,” Raymond says.

This video was recorded on Oct. 1, 2024, at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers annual conference in New Orleans.