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NEWS & INSIGHTS

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Ransomware Attacks are Targeting the Most Vulnerable: K-12 Schools

The explosion of ransomware attacks over the past two years have shaken cyber security defenders as bad actors escalate the level and sophistication of their attacks while demanding ever-larger payoffs.  While attacks on businesses and municipal governments have led the news, the most vulnerable, our K-12 schools, have also been targeted while they grapple with remote learning.  To make matters worst, our schools are almost wholly unprepared to counter such attacks with little cyber defense infrastructure in place and almost no training and education in good cyber hygiene.  Once again, the bad guys demonstrate their ability to find and exploit our vulnerabilities.

Last August and September, the latest data available, the FBI reported that 57% of reported ransomware incidents involved K-12 schools – more than twice the number of school ransomware attacks reported in the earlier months of 2020. At least 44 ransomware attacks have already occurred against public school districts in 2021, according to cybersecurity company Recorded Future.

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ransomware, k-12ransomwareattacks, allegiscbyer