Abby Sourwine reports:
Ransomware attacks against schools and universities held relatively steady in 2025, but the scale of data exposure rose sharply, driven in part by third-party software vulnerabilities and a handful of outsized higher education breaches.
According to U.K.-based technology research company Comparitech’s latest education ransomware roundup, ransomware gangs globally claimed 251 attacks on educational institutions in 2025, just a few more than 2024’s 247. Of those claims, 94 have been confirmed by targeted organizations.
Though the number of attacks remained stagnant, the impact grew. Across confirmed attacks in 2025, 3.9 million records are known to have been exposed, a 27 percent increase over the 3.1 million of the previous year. Rebecca Moody, head of data research at Comparitech, said the breach totals are likely to rise further as additional disclosures are filed.
Read more at GovTech.