Schools ‘Increasingly Vulnerable’ to Ransomware Attacks: Study

Increased device mobility and complexity “are leaving schools increasingly vulnerable to security risks and potential attacks,” reported Absolute Software Tuesday. The cybersecurity company analyzed “anonymized” data from more than 10,000 schools, finding the total number of devices deployed increased 74% from 2019 to 2020, it said. “The disruption caused by digital learning -- and the flurry of new technologies needed to support it -- opened up new potential attack vectors for cybercriminals, it said, citing FBI statistics showing 57% of all reported ransomware attacks in August and September 2020 targeted K-12 schools. Absolute found that nearly half (47%) of K-12 devices in spring 2021 were located more than 25 miles from their school or district, compared with 27% a year earlier. Students and faculty spent 60% of their time online actively using officially sanctioned educational resources so far in 2021, but 21% of online activity takes place “outside established and approved education sites,” it said.