Six out of 10 UK secondary schools hit by cyber-attack or breach in past year

"When hackers attacked UK nurseries last month and published children's data online, they were accused of hitting a new low. But the broader education sector is well used to being a target. According to a UK government survey, educational institutions are more likely to face a cyber-attack or security breach"

"Six out of 10 secondary schools have suffered an attack or breach over the past 12 months, rising to eight out of 10 for further education colleges and nine out of 10 for higher education institutions. By comparison, four out of 10 businesses have faced a breach or attack roughly the same proportion as primary schools. Toby Lewis, the global head of threat analysis at the cybersecurity firm Darktrace, says the UK education sector is not necessarily being targeted deliberately."

Hackers published nursery children's data online after breaching systems. Educational institutions face higher rates of cyber-attacks than private businesses: six out of ten secondary schools, eight out of ten further education colleges, and nine out of ten higher education institutions reported attacks or breaches in the past year. Primary schools and businesses each report about four out of ten. The government survey sampled nearly 300 primary and secondary schools and more than 30 higher education institutions and defines cyber-attacks to include phishing attempts. Phishing is the most common vector. Experts say many victims are caught opportunistically, and ransomware attackers encrypt systems, steal data, then demand bitcoin payments.

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