With an enormous increase in phishing scams, malware attacks, ransomware schemes, and serious data breaches, the past two years have demonstrated that a strong cybersecurity system is essential for K-12 schools just as much as it is for corporations. The lack of adequate protection can be extremely disruptive and costly: from completely shutting down school operations to exposing students’ personal records, to costing millions of taxpayer dollars to pay ransoms.
Cyberattacks on schools and academia in general are on the rise again. According to Checkpoint Software, weekly attacks against education organizations increased 30% quarter over quarter last year compared to a 6.5% increase across other US sectors. Hackers are homing in on soft targets, and some of the hackers are coming from inside. In September 2020, a Florida teen launched “a series of DDoS attacks that helped shut down one of the nation’s largest school districts for its first three days of virtual […]