Cybersecurity for Educational Institutions

Educational leaders and IT and cyber professionals have faced significant challenges over the last several years. The complexities of shifting between in-person, virtual, and hybrid schooling have been met with an increasingly complicated and evolving cyber threat landscape where schools have become primary targets of cyber threat actors (CTAs).

K-12 and higher education institutions don't always have the resources to manage the expansive needs of proactive cybersecurity. In the K-12 Report: CIS MS-ISAC Cybersecurity Assessment of the 2022–2023 School Year, for instance, 81% of K-12 respondents to the 2022 Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR) said they lack sufficient funding. Approximately the same percentage of respondents cited the increasing sophistication of threats and lack of documented processes as cybersecurity challenges at 59% and 58%, respectively. More than 40% of respondents said that their schools also struggle with a lack of cybersecurity strategy and insufficient numbers of trained cybersecurity personnel.

Overview

Educational leaders and IT and cyber professionals have faced significant challenges over the last several years. The complexities of shifting between in-person, virtual, and hybrid schooling have been met with an increasingly complicated and evolving cyber threat landscape where schools have become primary targets of cyber threat actors (CTAs).

K-12 and higher education institutions don't always have the resources to manage the expansive needs of proactive cybersecurity. In the K-12 Report: CIS MS-ISAC Cybersecurity Assessment of the 2022–2023 School Year, for instance, 81% of K-12 respondents to the 2022 Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR) said they lack sufficient funding. Approximately the same percentage of respondents cited the increasing sophistication of threats and lack of documented processes as cybersecurity challenges at 59% and 58%, respectively. More than 40% of respondents said that their schools also struggle with a lack of cybersecurity strategy and insufficient numbers of trained cybersecurity personnel.

Education Solutions

It’s critical to ensure students, parents, employees, staff, and all their data stay safe.

This requires real-time cybersecurity operations that help education organizations monitor, detect, and respond to threats 24x7x365 – not just during school hours. For most institutions, this isn’t something that can be easily managed in-house.

CIS offers many solutions that can help.

 

 


CIS MS-ISAC K-12 Cybersecurity Assessment

Download 2022-2023 Report


A School’s Guide to Cybersecurity

View Recording


K-12 Building up Cyber Defenses in Compliance with State Laws

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Formalizing K-12 Cybersecurity Policies in Less Time

View Case Study