STATISTICS AND SOLUTIONS

STATISTICS AND SOLUTIONS

PROTECTING THE K–12 DIGITAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

What’s the current state of network security in schools? According to research from Fortinet:

Education is one of the three areas hit hardest by cyberespionage.
10% of educational institutions were hit with malware on their networks in 2016.
Cyber-espionage was present in 26% of these breaches.
Four out of 10 teachers say their schools are “behind the curve” when it comes to technology adoption and implementation. Effective network security:
Protects personally identifiable information (PII) * Reduces time and money spent on IT solutions
Limits downtime
Blocks network intrusions

Schools and districts can use E-Rate funds for solutions including firewalls, wireless controller systems, caching, switching, and access points.

77% OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ARE NOT PREPARED FOR IT RISKS

The 2017 IT Risks Survey, conducted by Netwrix, provides a deep look into IT security practices, challenges, successes, and plans in educational institutions. The number-one concern of these institutions is securing sensitive data, and most plan to invest in protection against data breaches and fraud.

The survey found that, among educational institutions:

72% don’t have any dedicated employees responsible for cybersecurity
77% perceive employees to be the biggest threat to system availability and security
49% have faced security incidents caused by human errors
37% have experienced security incidents due to malware
Only 23% consider themselves to be well prepared to counter IT risks.

Survey respondents named budgetary concerns (74%), lack of time (54%), and insufficient participation of senior management (44%) as the main obstacles to effective cyber-risk management.