Karen Scarfone reports:
No matter how many layers of security school districts put in place to stop ransomware, it’s inevitable that, at some point, an endpoint will be infected. Since January 2016, there have been 355 cybersecurity-related incidents against K–12 schools, including ransomware attacks, according to the K–12 Cybersecurity Resource Center.
In 2016, 60 percent of K–12 schools hit with ransomware decided to pay attackers in order to get back control of their data, according to analysis from the Department of Education. In response, the Education Department has responded with a number of resources to encourage better cybersecurity practices.
Most recently, the Education Department announced it would strip any K–12 school district or higher education institution of Title IV funding if it did not adhere to “reasonable methods” to protect student data.
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