August Sees Ransomware Attacks on Education Sector Spike
Date:
September 6, 2023
The education sector has long been a favorite target of ransomware operators, and August attack volumes spiked just as schools were getting ready for the fall term.
“Attacks spanned K-12 schools and universities and were consistent with ransomware gang behavior. Operators increasingly targeted the sector in June prior to the school year wrapping up for the summer,” TechTarget reports.
“Despite data indicating that the majority of schools don't give in to ransom demands, attacks have typically increased as classes resume in August and September."
Takeaway: Ransomware operators have zero conscience, and they seek out weakness in their target selection. They continue to victimize organizations in education (and healthcare) simply because they are easy targets.
These sectors often lack the appropriate budgets to maintain a sound security posture, and likely lack the staff to properly manage and protect their infrastructure.
Even if the attack itself is resolved, students whose personal information was stolen will continue to be at risk of identity theft and financial fraud into the unforeseeable future.
Ransomware attacks and data exfiltration will continue unabated until profit motives are eliminated. To protect themselves, EDU organizations must reevaluate what kinds of data they collect and store, for how long and pinpoint where it’s stored.
Institutions continue to maintain legacy student data that includes financial and personally identifiable information that attackers can leverage to compel a ransom payment or sell on the black market.
Eliminating the storage of unnecessary data will help make EDU organizations a less attractive target to attackers, thus, minimizing potential threats to operations, staff and students.
Halcyon.ai is the industry’s first dedicated, adaptive security platform that combines multiple advanced proprietary prevention engines along with AI models focused specifically on stopping ransomware – talk to a Halcyon expert today to find out more.
