Mounting ransomware attacks plague education sector

SiliconAngle reports that ransomware attacks against the educational sector have significantly increased from 2018 to 2022 and are expected to reach a record high this year, with 85 attacks recorded during the first half of 2023 being almost two times higher than the same period in 2022. Ransomware attacks have impacted 561 educational entities from 2018 to mid-September, compromising over 6.7 million records and resulting in $53 billion in downtime-related costs, according to a Comparitech report. Most attacks against the sector were conducted by the Vice Society, LockBit, Royal, Medusa, and Rhysida ransomware operations, which mostly targeted schools. "The fact that the education sector didn't see the same dip in attacks as other industries last year highlights how schools and colleges remain a focus for ransomware hackers. Add to this the ongoing spike in ransomware attacks across all industries and the threat of these cyber attacks remains high if not higher for the education sector," said the report.