The State of Cybersecurity in the K-12 Education Sector
Cyberattacks are increasing globally at an alarming rate. Many industries are hurrying to evaluate vulnerabilities and mitigate risks, however some industries, like the education sector are often finding themselves dangerously behind the curve.
K-12 School districts are responsible for vast amounts of personal student and staff personal data and with the increased reliance on technology in the classroom, their networks are becoming more and more vulnerable to attack. Bad actors are taking every opportunity to exploit these vulnerabilities and without adequate cybersecurity protocols and measures in place, school districts are falling victim to these attacks more frequently than ever before. In fact, the education sector is now the #1 most attacked industry, according to CSO online.
Ransomware, Data Breaches, Data Exfiltration, and Phishing Attacks are among the top publicly disclosed cybersecurity events plaguing school districts across the US. “According to the K-12 Security Information Exchange (K12 SIX), security threats like these have risen steadily since 2016. Averaged over the last six years, this equates to more than one incident per school day. K12 SIX claims that anecdotal evidence suggests there could be 10 to 20 times more events that go undisclosed every year.” [Read more: SecurityBoulevard.com]
The bottom line is that the Education sector is now the most heavily targeted industry on the planet, with nearly 7 million more malware encounters in the last 30 days than any other tracked industry.?