Malicious actors who participate in cyber attacks often change their targets up based on the season because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up maximizing the efficacy of their attacks. New data that has been revealed by Atlas VPN suggests that the education sector has become a prime target for cyber attacks over the past thirty days, and it is interrupting the return to school for a lot of children and parents.
Based on this data, the education sector has faced around 171,000 cyber attacks on a daily basis. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this totals around 5.13 million cyber attacks, and it represents 80% of the total cyber attacks conducted during this period. The only other sector that came anywhere close to the education industry was that of retailers, and cyber attacks targeting retail outlets barely crossed the half million mark with all things having been considered and taken into account.
The shift to digitized education that started to occur during the peak of the pandemic have likely played a role in this occurrence. As more and more education is conducted through digital means, malicious actors have an increased chance of conducting successful cyber attacks. This is something that parents should keep in mind, since it might result in their children’s private data getting leaked to malicious actors who would sell it to the highest bidder.
In spite of the fact that this is the case, cyber attacks targeting this sector don’t seem to be focusing on educational institutions. Rather, they tend to prioritize enterprises who offer services in the niche. Hence, it is the companies who are digitizing education that are at the most risk here, and steps should be taken to improve their cybersecurity during the back to school season.
Upticks in cyber attacks are a common occurrence during this period of the year, and a lot of work needs to be done to keep them from doing too much harm to the industry.
Read next: A Wi-Sun Alliance study highlights some significant data protection concerns due to IoT adoption
Based on this data, the education sector has faced around 171,000 cyber attacks on a daily basis. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that this totals around 5.13 million cyber attacks, and it represents 80% of the total cyber attacks conducted during this period. The only other sector that came anywhere close to the education industry was that of retailers, and cyber attacks targeting retail outlets barely crossed the half million mark with all things having been considered and taken into account.
The shift to digitized education that started to occur during the peak of the pandemic have likely played a role in this occurrence. As more and more education is conducted through digital means, malicious actors have an increased chance of conducting successful cyber attacks. This is something that parents should keep in mind, since it might result in their children’s private data getting leaked to malicious actors who would sell it to the highest bidder.
In spite of the fact that this is the case, cyber attacks targeting this sector don’t seem to be focusing on educational institutions. Rather, they tend to prioritize enterprises who offer services in the niche. Hence, it is the companies who are digitizing education that are at the most risk here, and steps should be taken to improve their cybersecurity during the back to school season.
Upticks in cyber attacks are a common occurrence during this period of the year, and a lot of work needs to be done to keep them from doing too much harm to the industry.
Read next: A Wi-Sun Alliance study highlights some significant data protection concerns due to IoT adoption
