New research from Malwarebytes ThreatDown analysts shows that 2023 was the "worst year on record" for education, with a 70% increase in known ransomware attacks targeting higher education institutions globally, and nearly half of those in the United States.
In 2024, experts say that AI-based tools will enable threat actors to dramatically increase both the quantity and impact of their attacks — and attacks are more likely to focus on stealing valuable data than on ransom payments. Compliance will continue to grow in complexity, and cyber insurance will likely see rates stay flat or dip slightly.
A new guide for higher education from Ninjio on improving cyber defense through campus-wide training offers actionable advice for institutions’ leaders on how to translate their core competency — education — into a successful cybersecurity awareness program that reduces vulnerabilities and improves security posture across the entire campus and network.
Cobalt Iron is adding new features to its Compass NAS Protector backup platform, including faster backups and improved policy management, at no additional cost.
Nearly eight out of 10 higher ed organizations surveyed for Sophos’ 2023 State of Ransomware Report said they were hit by ransomware last year — a 23% increase from the previous year’s results — making education the most-attacked sector in 2022.
A majority of chief information security officers in the U.S. education sector believe they’re likely to experience a material cyber attack in the next 12 months, and a majority have dealt with a material loss of sensitive data in the previous 12 months, according to the newest Voice of the CISO report published this week by cybersecurity company Proofpoint.
A new survey of public sector IT professionals conducted in January by independent research firm Market Connections found that careless or untrained insiders remains the top-ranked threat to higher education institutions’ network security, while the threat of malicious attacks by foreign governments is considered a bigger threat than in years past, according to the survey results.
SonicWall’s 2023 Cyber Threat Report shows that ransomware attacks targeting higher education institutions dropped by 29% last year — perhaps a result of wider reporting and faster patching of known exploited vulnerabilities, SonicWall said — as higher ed malware attacks rose by about 26%.
Blackbaud, a South Carolina-based provider of administrative, donor management, and CRM software to thousands of K–12 private schools, higher education institutions, and nonprofits, has been ordered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to pay a fine of $3 million to “settle charges for making misleading disclosures about a 2020 ransomware attack that impacted more than 13,000 customers,” the federal agency said in a news release.
Expanded multi-modal MathGPT Platform possibilities mean any math content or curriculum can be turned into a personalized GPT-powered chatbot with interactive text, audio, and video learning, and GotIt can configure the platform to work with a wide variety of applications in math education, the company said.
