Educational institutions are data-rich gold mines. From student and employee records to sensitive financial information, schools contain a plethora of data that can be obtained by cybercriminals rather easily due to lack of security protocols. This fact has cybercriminals pivoting their strategies, leading to a recent uptick in attacks on the education sector in the United States and around the world. In fact, there are three main threats impacting schools — data breaches, phishing, and ransomware. Let’s take a look at each of these threats, how cybercriminals have executed them, and the precautions students can take in the future.
Nearly half of the cyberattacks that impacted schools in 2018 were data breaches, which occur when an unauthorized, third-party gains access to a school’s network. From there, cybercriminals gain access to a host of private information on employees and students, including names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and Social Security numbers. After an attack of this nature occurs, educational institutions reassess their current cybersecurity strategy. This usually entails revisiting privacy settings and reviewing all security protocols.
