As schools become increasingly reliant on technology for teaching and learning, it is putting them at greater risk for cybersecurity incidents, which is apparent in the findings of a new cybersecurity report.
“The State of K-12 Cybersecurity: 2019 Year in Review,” released by the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center, found there were 348 cybersecurity incidents reported at 336 K-12 education agencies across 44 states in 2019 — a 185% increase from 122 incidents in 2018.
Of the 348 incidents, 60% were due to data breaches, primarily involving the unauthorized disclosure of student data. The second most frequent type of cyber incident was ransomware or malware at 28%. These types of incidents are the most expensive and disruptive, according to the report.
For the first time since the resource center began tracking school incidents, malware/ransomware incidents resulted in numerous school districts canceling classes or closing in 2019.
The report also shared the worst cybersecurity incidents affecting public schools in 2019, including:
- Louisana public schools: A State of Emergency was declared in July 2019 after three public school districts fell victim to…
