A new report by Barracuda Networks indicates that US K-12 schools have suffered a total of 301 cyberattacks so far this year, which is already more than double the total number of attacks reported throughout 2018 (124). Almost one-third (31%) of cyber incidents involved a data breach, while 23% involved malware, 16% accidental data exposure, 13% phishing, 10% network attacks and 4% denial of service. Ransomware accounted for 17% of malware infections.
Students actually represent a major threat to school networks, with more than one in five (21%) schools reporting unauthorized use of computers, networks, or servers by students. About 6% of attacks were attributed to students.
Jonathan Tanner of Barracuda Networks said that “a comprehensive security portfolio is key to preventing security incidents in schools,” elaborating that “perimeter protection including firewalls, email protection, web content control, and web application protection for school websites all play an important role in keeping threats out of school networks.” In addition, schools need to implement solutions like “intrusion detection, anti-malware software, and data backup.”
Read more: How schools can better protect themselves against cyberattacks
