Education Sector at High Risk of Ransomware Attacks

According to CBS news, in January, a Michigan school district became one of the victims of a ransomware attack. Hackers seized control of its computer system, demanding $10,000 in bitcoin in order to release it. This attack “affected telephones, copiers and classroom technology.” As a result of the attack, several schools in the district were closed for a week so employees could attempt to resolve the problem. The Richmond Community Schools Superintendent explained that recovery of the data is a difficult process and they do not intend to pay the ransom. “There’s no guarantee we’ll get [the server files] back, and we don’t know if that’s $10,000 for each file or each server that they’ve taken.”

Education is one of the most targeted sectors for ransomware. One reason educational organizations are at such high risk is because of the valuable information they store. They have social security numbers, banking information, credit card numbers, birthdates, and other personal information. In addition, this information does not just stem from students, but from all employees and parents. Another reason the education sector is targeted is because typically their IT equipment is not always state of the art. The school districts have budgetary constraints that make it difficult to fund IT security investments. 

According to a study done by Emsisoft Malware Lab, in 2019, the United States was hit by a myriad of ransomware attacks “that impacted at least 966 government agencies, educational establishments and healthcare providers at a potential cost in excess of $7.5 billion.” That number is astounding. Of these attacks, 89 were educational sectors which potentially affected 1,233 individual schools. These numbers demonstrate the severity of the issue and reiterate the need for a data backup and recovery plan. 

Trinsio knows how valuable your data is to the success of your organizations, and we are dedicated to helping you conquer the odds against you. That is why we partner with Rubrik, to bring to you the best in cloud data management.