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Education Sector: An Attractive Target for Cyber-Attacks 
NJCCIC LogoThe NJCCIC assesses with high confidence that educational institutions across the globe will remain attractive targets for a range of cyber-attacks designed to disrupt daily operations, steal sensitive data, instill fear in the community, and hold critical operational data for ransom

In October 2017, the US Department of Education issued an updated Cyber Advisory warning schools about a new method of cyber extortion impacting institutions across the country. Inr ecent attacks, cyber-criminals demanded large ransom payments in exchange for sensitive student record information obtained via schools’ compromised networks. In some instances, cyber-criminals made direct threats to the safety of students and staff members via SMS messaging.

According to Verizon’s 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report, the education sector was impacted by approximately 455 security incidents in 2016, with at least 73 of these events involving the disclosure of data. As the use of technology within the classroom is increasingly required for educational purposes, more schools are implementing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, allowing students and employees to connect their personal computers, tablets, and mobile phones to their networks. Unfortunately, if BYOD is not implemented with security in mind, schools could be exposing their networks and sensitive data to an increased risk of compromise created by vulnerable and infected devices. Sophisticated and profit-motivated threat actors are cognizant of this fact and will continue to target universities and school districts as many of them do not have adequate resources, funding, or staffing to properly protect and defend their networks.

Read more here: 20180207 - Education Sector - An Attractive Target for Cyber-Attacks.pdf
Posted by melson On 12 February, 2018 at 8:37 AM