Alabama Supercomputer Authority presents free cybersecurity services for K‑12 districts, including 24/7 SOC monitoring and firewall management

Officials from the Alabama Supercomputer Authority (ASA) briefed the State Board of Education on the Authority’s cybersecurity services for K‑12 systems, describing a Security Operations Center that monitors logs from more than 100 school district firewalls, provides monthly vulnerability scans, conducts firewall reviews and offers free cybersecurity awareness training for district staff.

"What we do is provide Internet access. We provide firewalls. We provide we have a security operation center," Carrie Hill, director of governmental affairs for the Alabama Supercomputer Authority, told the board while introducing the Authority’s briefing. Hill said ASA’s services are available to K‑12 systems, public libraries and community colleges statewide.

Victor Rodriguez, who runs ASA’s SOC, described the technical operations and alerted the board to the importance of continuous monitoring and people who analyze alerts. "The overall concept that you hear in technology when it comes to cybersecurity is as much defense‑in‑depth as possible," Rodriguez said. He described the SOC’s use of Palo Alto next‑generation firewalls, a security information and event management (SIEM) system that aggregates logs and threat subscriptions that push signatures and blocks automatically to subscriber firewalls.

Key services described by ASA

- 24/7 monitoring and a staffed SOC that aggregates logs from K‑12 firewalls into a SIEM for real‑time alerting and incident response. - Free cybersecurity awareness training and phishing simulations for district faculty and staff (two vendor platforms named during the briefing). - Monthly external vulnerability scanning and firewall reviews to identify and close unnecessary open services and misconfigurations. - Incident alerting and coordination with district technology staff; ASA staff said they will call local directors — including after hours and on holidays — when alerts indicate possible compromise. - Assistance with threat assessments that districts can use for compliance and security posture improvements.

Adoption and reach

ASA staff said that, as of the 2022 renewal cycle, 111 districts had renewed service under the Authority’s agreement and that the SOC monitors and aggregates data from more than 100 K‑12 firewalls. ASA staff emphasized that services are free for districts and are intended to complement — not replace — local IT staffing.

Board and auditor participation

State Auditor representatives offered to scan state‑owned computers for agencies that had not yet completed the office’s required equipment scans. Board members and auditors discussed logistics for scanning devices and replacing Narcan used in schools (a separate topic later in the meeting) and commended ASA staff for the SOC demonstration.

What officials said

Carrie Hill: "What we do is provide Internet access. We provide firewalls. We provide we have a security operation center."

Victor Rodriguez: "Cybersecurity or security in general is always an afterthought. It is never something that organizations across The United States from federal agencies down place as the highest importance ... Defense in‑depth as much as possible."

Ending

Board members praised the Authority’s work and several asked ASA to host site visits and demonstrations. ASA staff invited board members and staff to tour the Huntsville SOC and said they would provide additional detail on district participation and a distribution list for service enrollment.