In the Sept. 27, 2024, episode of “A Lively Experiment,” moderator Jim Hummel and his panelists discussed the response to a computer hack in the Providence School system.
Hummel was joined by Antonia Noori Farzan, a reporter for The Providence Journal; Joe Powers, Rhode Island GOP chairman; and Pablo Rodriguez, a political contributor.
This discussion has been condensed and edited for clarity. Watch the full episode of “A Lively Experiment” here.
After two weeks of being tight-lipped about an internet outage in the Providence School District, Superintendent Javier Montañez admitted on Sept. 25 that the computer system had been hacked and personal information was potentially compromised.
The data breach put administrators in a tough spot, as they had to balance providing information to families while also figuring out a way to attack the problem.
Frustrating for families
Farzan called the reliance on the internet “shocking.”
“I mean, I’m not that old. I graduated from high school in 2007, but back in my day the teacher wrote stuff on the blackboard,” she said. “You took notes in your notebook. If the Wi-Fi went out, you would never have noticed.
“And now apparently teachers are on their personal hotspots from their phone all day just (to) be able to teach a class. I mean, it really makes you wonder if we should be this reliant on technology.”
Farzan said it became apparent that the breach was a serious attack and not a fluke caused by an outage.
“It’s been really frustrating and stressful for families, definitely,” she said. “I mean, I haven’t even been covering this personally, but I’ve been getting a lot of messages from people I know who have kids in Providence schools, just readers even asking, ‘Can you give us any clarity on what’s going on?’
“We’re getting nothing from the district. Obviously, whenever there’s a vacuum, the rumor mill fills that vacuum. So people are wondering, you know, has personal information about my child, has my information, is that online somewhere?”
Rodriguez referenced similar breaches at hospitals or national billing systems for hospitals and providers, which led to a complete shutdown at some facilities.
“This is something serious that we need to take very seriously in terms of the protections that we have to have for all our systems, not just the schools,” he said. “Schools, hospitals, election systems.
“Everything needs to be protected to such a level that, you know, it’s gonna cost money and I don’t know where it’s gonna come from.”
Powers said he believed that the problem was going to get worse.
“The problem that I think we run into is not only do we not have the proper internet security anywhere it goes, is that people get too reliant on one individual thing ‘cause it’s the ease of use and it just gets more simplistic for ‘em,” he said. “From the reporting, getting a single source (of) information is probably not the best way to tell a story.
“Same thing here is that we have a single source that’s actually providing this internet. And the internet that’s coming in can be hacked by any of these people.”
Powers added that the hacking was no longer a “cottage industry.” It has grown into a more serious problem.
“It’s a professional multibillion-dollar company and corporations out there that can provide this hacking and hold ‘em for ransom,” he said. “And that’s what they’re gonna do.
“Do I think we need to go back to books? I would love that. I think that would be fantastic.”
‘Can you change the classification?’
In North Kingstown, the Quidnessett Country Club basically asked for forgiveness from the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) after erecting a controversial seawall.
Farzan said the country club put up the seawall without getting permission from the CRMC— and the council received a complaint eight months later.
“(The CRMC) says, ‘What are you doing’?” she said. “And essentially now wants them ideally to take it down and restore that piece of the coastline that was protected waters where even if they’d asked permission those are a type of water that you’re not allowed to build a seawall in because (of) their undisturbed natural state.
“So now they’re going to the CRMC and saying, ‘Oh, can you change the classification of this type of water so we can ask for permission ‘to build our seawall?’”
Farzan added that groups like Save the Bay and Advocates for Coastal Access have been frustrated with the situation. The CRMC staff heard arguments from both sides and then made a decision.
“They went through the petition and they basically came out and said, ‘No, you shouldn’t do this,’” she said. “And the subcommittee of the council sat down … and said, ‘Well actually we wanna hear more from the country club, so we’re not gonna make a decision. We’re gonna put this off and let them give a presentation.’”
Rodriguez conceded that the council members are not experts in the field, but said that if he built a seawall on his property against the rules, “My wall will be taken down in two seconds.”
“This is about influence and power … and when you have professionals that are going to be determining one of the most existential threats that we have, which is, you know, global warming with increasing the levels of the ocean, we need to have people that are competent in making these decisions,” he said. “You can’t have political appointees making this decision.
“It’s too important. It is too dangerous. And CRMC needs a complete revamping.”
Powers agreed, adding that political appointees “prioritize power” over protecting the environment.
“What they really should be focused on and what’s actually truly happening that’s actually affecting Rhode Island right now, which is like your wind turbines out there,” he said. “When you have dead whales, you’ve got dead dolphins, you’ve got dead fish, you’ve got particles of Fiberglass that are floating up on shore.”
“Half the times you look at them, they’re not even working, they’re not even moving and all they wanna do, and very rarely does the CRMC get it right at any given time,” he added. “It’s always like passing it off to somebody else and they come back and say, ‘Well, you’re wrong here.’
“It’s simply because they’re not professionals when it comes to doing this thing. And what they should be doing is focusing on something that’s actually gonna keep Rhode Island an ocean state and actually protect the oceans.”
