GAB’er Page: 1 April 9, 2019

THE
GAB’ER
Newsletter of the Greater Albany AppleByters: April, 2019
GAAB is celebrating its 35th year (2018-2019) with our informal meeting
format. The next meeting will be:

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

7:00 PM

At Panera Bread

161 Washington Ave Ext, Albany, NY

A map can be found at the GAAB website at

http://applebyters.com/index.php/meeting-information/meeting_map/

GAAB Meeting Agenda

Greetings and Dinner
Discussion: Topics presented by members and
News from Apple including Mac OS X and iOS Updates

GAAB Help Desk: Bring your questions

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GAB’er Page: 2 April 9, 2019

All-new iPad Air and iPad mini deliver dramatic power and capability

10.5-Inch iPad Air Offers High-End Features and Performance at a Breakthrough Price

7.9-Inch iPad mini Brings Apple Pencil Support, Advanced Retina Display
and the A12 Bionic Chip to a Beloved Design

Cupertino, California — Apple introduced the all-new iPad Air in an ultra- thin 10.5-inch
design, offering the latest innovations including Apple Pencil1 support and high-
end performance at a breakthrough price. With the A12 Bionic chip with Appleʼs
Neural Engine, the new iPad Air delivers a 70 percent boost in

The new iPad Air with support for Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard introduces high-end
features and performance at a breakthrough price.

performance and twice the graphics capability, and the advanced Retina display with True
Tone technology is nearly 20 percent larger with over half a million more
pixels.2

Apple also introduced the new 7.9- inch iPad mini, a major upgrade for iPad mini fans who
love a compact, ultra- portable design packed with the latest technology. With
the A12 Bionic chip, the new iPad mini is a powerful multi-tasking machine,
delivering three times the performance and nine times faster graphics.3 The
advanced Retina display with True Tone technology and wide color support is
25 percent brighter3 and has the highest pixel density of any iPad, delivering an
immersive visual experience in any setting. And with Apple Pencil1 support, the
new iPad mini is the perfect take-anywhere notepad for sketching and jotting

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GAB’er Page: 3 April 9, 2019

down thoughts on the go. The new iPads are available to order starting today
and in stores next week.

“iPad continues to provide magical new experiences for a growing range of uses where it is
the absolute best device, from playing games in augmented reality to note-
taking and drawing with Apple Pencil, from streaming HD movies and editing 4K
films to learning to develop apps with Swift Playgrounds,” said Phil Schiller,
Appleʼs senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Today the iPad family
takes

A major upgrade to the beloved iPad mini brings Apple Pencil support, Retina display and
the A12 Bionic chip, two big leaps forward with an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Air
that brings high-end size, features and performance at a breakthrough price,
and a major upgrade to the 7.9-inch iPad mini, which also brings Apple Pencil,
Retina display and the A12 Bionic chip to the many customers that love its
compact size.”

The powerful and smart A12 Bionic chip brings a new level of performance to iPad Air
(pictured) and iPad mini.

Apple Pencil and iPad — The Perfect Pair

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Apple Pencil opens up new creativity and productivity possibilities for iPad mini and iPad Air
users, from drawing and writing down thoughts to marking up documents and
retouching photos. The must-have tool among students, professionals and
creatives delivers a remarkably fluid and natural drawing experience and
provides pixel-perfect accuracy and low latency for activities within popular
apps including Procreate, Notability, Pixelmator Photo (coming soon) and
Microsoft Office.

Apple Pencil support for the new iPad mini (pictured) and iPad Air provide even more
versatility for taking notes, editing photos and capturing ideas on the go.

Power Meets Portability with the A12 Bionic Chip

The Apple-designed Neural Engine of the A12 Bionic chip powers the next generation of
apps and iPad workflows using advanced machine learning and Core ML for
engaging AR experiences, photo-realistic effects in 3D games and stunning
graphics performance within apps.

Staying connected is now easier and faster with iPad mini and iPad Air, featuring the same
great Wi-Fi performance and Gigabit-class LTE connectivity4 built into the most
advanced iPad Pro models. With eSIM technology built in, users can easily
connect to wireless data plans right from iPad when traveling in more than 180
countries around the world.5

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More than 1.3 million apps are designed specifically for iPad — from engaging AR
experiences to drawing with Apple Pencil and connecting with friends and
family.

Advanced Cameras for Stunning Photos and Videos

With advanced front- and back-facing cameras, iPad mini and iPad Air take gorgeous photos
and capture clear and stable 1080p HD videos. The upgraded cameras with
exceptional low-light performance and HD video recording are great for
document scanning and connecting with friends and family on Group FaceTime
calls, and with advanced sensors, help enable immersive AR experiences.

More Than a Million Apps Just for iPad

The App Store is the best place to discover more than 1.3 million apps designed specifically
for iPad — from journaling with Apple Pencil to managing schedules and

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GAB’er Page: 6 April 9, 2019

finances, editing photos, learning, connecting with friends and family, and
playing games. Unlike stretched-out phone apps on other platforms, apps
designed for iPad run and look great on every iPad.

The new iPad mini (pictured) and iPad Air capture high-resolution photos and video and
make editing 4K films easy and smooth.

iOS on iPad

iPad Air and iPad mini are perfect for staying productive on the go with iOS, helping users
get things done faster with features like Siri Shortcuts, photo search and Voice
Memos. The Dock provides quick access to frequently used apps and
documents from any screen, and multitasking is easy with Split View and Slide
Over. Drag and Drop makes moving images, text and files between apps easier
than ever, and managing documents in the Files app is seamless and easy on
iPad and across Apple devices.

Apple today announced an upcoming update to iWork for iOS, available next week, with
enhanced integration of Apple Pencil including new animation options in
Keynote that let users draw an animation path for any object, and an all-new
user interface that enables easy implementation of build effects, including
move, rotate and scale.

The Best, Most Complete iPad Lineup Ever

The new iPad Air and iPad mini join the most affordable 9.7-inch iPad and the most
advanced iPad Pro models, offering the best, most innovative iPad lineup ever.
The complete lineup now includes Apple Pencil support, best-in-class
performance, advanced displays and all- day battery life6 for an experience
unmatched by any other device. Whether customers prioritize portability, screen

Multitasking and managing documents on iPad is fast and easy with iOS 12. Size, power or
price, thereʼs an iPad for everyone. Learn more about the iPad family at
apple.com/ipad/compare.

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GAB’er Page: 7 April 9, 2019

The new iPad mini and iPad Air come in silver, space gray and gold finishes in 64GB and
256GB configurations. The new iPad mini starts at $399 (US) for the Wi-Fi
model and $529 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model and the 10.5-inch iPad Air
starts at $499 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $629 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular
model from apple.com, in the Apple Store app and Apple Stores, and is also
available through Apple Authorized Resellers and select carriers (prices may
vary).

The complete iPad lineup now includes Apple Pencil support, best-in-class performance,
advanced displays and all-day battery life.

Pricing and Availability

The new iPad models are available to order starting today from apple.com and in the Apple
Store app in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UAE, UK and US. Starting next week, the new
iPad models will be available in those countries and regions, as well as in China
(Wi-Fi models only), Macau (Wi-Fi models only) and Mexico with more countries
and regions to follow soon, including Colombia, Greece, India, Israel, Russia,
Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand (Wi-Fi models only) and Turkey.

Apple Pencil (1st generation) is available for purchase separately for $99 (US). The Smart
Keyboard for the 10.5-inch iPad Air is available for purchase separately for
$159 (US) with layouts for over 30 languages, including simplified Chinese,
French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

Polyurethane Smart Covers are available for $39 (US) for iPad mini and $49 (US) for iPad
Air in charcoal gray, white, pink sand and a new papaya, with additional Leather
Smart Covers available for iPad Air for $69 (US) in black, saddle brown,
midnight blue and red.

Trade in your eligible device for credit toward your next purchase, or get an Apple Store Gift
Card you can use any time.7 If your device isnʼt eligible for credit, Apple will
recycle it for free.
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Every customer who buys iPad from Apple can enjoy free Personal Setup in-store or online,
and receive guidance on how to customize their iPad, set up email, find new apps from the
App Store and more.

Anyone who wants to learn more or go further with iPad or iOS 12 can sign up for free Today
at Apple sessions at apple.com/today.
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh
in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac,
Apple Watch and Apple TV. Appleʼs four software platforms — iOS, macOS,
watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices
and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple
Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Appleʼs more than 100,000 employees are
dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better
than we found it.

1 The first-generation Apple Pencil sold separately.

2 When compared to the 9.7-inch iPad.
3 When compared to the previous generation iPad mini.
4 Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks.
5 Not all carriers support eSIM or Apple SIM. See your carrier for details. Not available in
China.
6 Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results may vary.
7 Trade-in values vary based on the condition, year and configuration of your trade-in
device, and may also vary between online and in-store trade-in. You must be at least 18
years old. In-store trade-in requires presentation of a valid, government-issued photo ID
(local law may require saving this information). Additional terms from Apple or Appleʼs trade-
in patners may apply.

K-12 Cybersecurity Lessons Learned From 'Constant Barrage of Attacks'

By Benjamin Herold March 19, 2019 Education Wee

Library Media Specialist Stacy Olson shows kindergarteners at Rita Murphy Elementary School in Bismarck,
N.D., how to draw a circle using small, handheld robots called Ozobots that move and follow a marker line.
Kristina Barker for Education Week

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GAB’er Page: 9 April 9, 2019

When hackers struck one-third of North Dakota's schools with a vicious malware attack last
February, it highlighted the growing cyber threat facing America's public-education sector-
even in a state that's ahead of the cybersecurity curve.

"It moved quickly, and it didn't care what it hit," said Sean Wiese, North Dakota's chief
information security officer. "Just like any corporate environment, we have a constant barrage
of attacks at our front door."

For this special report on K-12 cybersecurity challenges, Education Week spoke with state
and local technology officials across North Dakota. We also surveyed the nation's school
technology leaders, in partnership with the Consortium for School Networking. The aim was
to better understand both the nature of the cyber threats schools face, and the steps they are
taking in response.

The results paint a mostly worrisome picture.

In North Dakota alone, for example, the state network used by K-12 schools, state
universities, and other public agencies experiences 5.7 million known cyberattacks every
month, officials said.

Nationwide, though, recognition of such dangers is still mostly low.

There is some good news that ed-tech leaders are getting their heads out of the sand: More
than half of K-12 CTOs now say phishing scams are a significant or very significant problem,
up from 48 percent last year, according to the Education Week/CoSN survey.

But when it comes to ransomware attacks, data breaches, distributed denial-of-service

attacks, and even the kind of malware that slammed North Dakota, 70 percent or more of the
respondents don't see a serious threat. In many cases, the percentage of school technology
leaders perceiving such hazards as a serious problem has actually declined since 2017.

A similar dynamic is at work when it comes to taking preventative action. School districts do
seem to have gone on a spending spree: 59 percent of school tech leaders now say they are
purchasing cybersecurity-related products and services, compared with just 29 percent a
year ago.

But there have been only slight upticks in the percentages of school technology leaders who
say they're taking basic steps to improve their districts' cyber hygiene, like monitoring network
traffic in real-time. Nearly half of K-12 technology leaders say their districts don't have a
formal password policy that is widely followed. One in four don't have a password policy at all.

"Relying solely on ad hoc efforts to manage school cybersecurity risk is like playing football
without a helmet," said Doug Levin, the CEO of consulting group EdTech Strategies, which
operates the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center. "The digital threats facing schools today
are greater than they have ever been, and it is only a matter of time before a preventable
incident blindsides a member of the school community."

'Our First Line of Defense'

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In North Dakota, cybersecurity is increasingly top-of-mind.

"In the old days, you didn't wake up thinking about security," said Casey Mueller, the director
of core technology for the 13,000-student Bismarck school system, who started with the
district as an intern back in 2001, when he was still in high school. "Now, you do a check first
thing every day to make sure things are functioning as expected."

That kind of vigilance helped Bismarck schools ward off the February 2018 malware attack
that swept through the state. Mueller said the district is lucky to have the capacity and
resources to tend to many cybersecurity basics.

"We make sure we stay up to date on security patches, we train users, and we enforce a
password scheme," he said. "When you start looking at rural North Dakota, though, you often
have a tech coordinator who is also the baseball and wrestling coach. They don't have the
skill set or know-how to stay on top of these things."

That fundamental staffing challenge is evident across the country: Overall, just 25 percent of
K- 12 schools have a full-time staff member dedicated to ensuring network security,
according to the CoSN survey data. In rural schools, that figure plummets to 8 percent.

While North Dakota is the least-densely populated state in the continental U.S., it does have
some advantages.

The state department of information technology manages a statewide broadband network

known as STAGEnet. Each day, more than a quarter- million users across 400 separate
public entities-including the state's 227 K-12 school districts-use

the network. Much of the work of monitoring and filtering incoming traffic is handled at the
state level, taking some of the burden off under- resourced schools.

There's also a push underway to get the North Dakota legislature to adopt a "one state, one
security" approach that would consolidate cybersecurity strategy in the state's information
technology department.

Levin of EdTech Strategies said there's "a lot that makes sense" about such a statewide
approach to cybersecurity, less-comprehensive versions of which can also be found in
Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Utah. But it's not a cure-all.

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Student Jeremiah Veach shows the computer he built at Legacy High School in Bismarck, N.D. ... Kristina
Barker for Education Week

In Bismarck, the state-level support has complemented local work, said Mueller's boss,
district technology director Tanna Kincaid.

One of the biggest benefits, she said, has been helping elevate the sense of urgency within
the district, which has helped smooth her team's efforts on issues like improving staff
members' password practices.

"When you first start, people are like, 'Why do I have to have a 14-character password?' "
Kincaid said. "But most of our users now understand that's our first line of defense."

Start With Basic Steps

The K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center documented 122 publicly reported cyberattacks on
schools in 2018. Well over half resulted in the sensitive data of students or staff being
compromised. That's probably the tip of the iceberg.

Levin said it's critical that districts not wait to take basic steps.

"Just like we know that eating right and exercising can lead to a healthier life, there are basic
cyber hygiene practices-such as deploying anti-malware and anti-phishing technology,

ensuring IT systems are backed up, implementing multi-factor authentication, and offering
user training-that can make a big difference," he said.

Still, national survey data suggests that remains a heavy lift.

More than one-third of K-12 tech leaders say their district either doesn't have a password
policy, or has a policy that isn't widely followed. And just 40 percent of districts that do have
password policies include monitoring of log-in attempts to district accounts, a common
security measure, according to the nationally representative CoSN/Education Week
Research Center survey.

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Just 14 percent of respondents require multi- factor authentication. Only 19 percent have a
cybersecurity plan. There wasn't any increase from 2017 to 2018 in the percentage of K-12
CTOs who are training teachers and students around good cybersecurity practices.

Bismarck, at least, is working on that last piece.

But even North Dakota's largest school district says it's not where it would like to be. Despite
the emphasis on greater password security, the district still doesn't have an official password
policy, Kincaid and Mueller said. Nor is it yet requiring multi-factor authentication on district
accounts.

'Ramp Up Our Efforts'

And in school systems like the 1,000-student New Town, N.D., district, the barriers are even
more profound.

Kindergartener Jakinley Scholin works on a robotics activity at Rita Murphy Elementary

School. To secure its networks now and also prepare students for the future workforce, the

Located on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in the oil fields of the state's northwestern
corner, the New Town district serves a transient population of mostly Native American
students living in poverty. It's a huge challenge to retain or recruit technology talent, said Kara
Four Bear, who recently became principal of the local middle school. There are also plenty of
more immediately pressing needs.

"When I came on last year, the school was very much in need of some good old-fashioned
love," she said. "It needed somebody to care about the curriculum, the students and the
teachers, even the building."

Four Bear said she's worked hard to make technology part of her transformation efforts. New
Town Middle is trying to build a 1-to-1 computing program. Most classrooms have document
cameras and smart televisions. Four Bear has arranged for her staff to receive training from
the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education, housed in the federal government. For
extracurriculars, her students now take part in afterschool STEM clubs and NASA
competitions.

"There's no more bringing in the rodeo clown," she said.

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But such efforts don't leave much time or money to focus on network security. Being able to
rely on the state information technology department has helped. But cybersecurity is just one
in a long line of priorities to worry about-and it rarely makes it to the top of the list.

"It's an area where we really need to ramp up our efforts," Four Bear said."We can't just be
building managers anymore." .

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