GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Nearly 500 million ransomware attacks were detected by organizations worldwide, according to the FBI's Crime Report from last year.
In that report, phishing attacks are the number one crime type, with over 300,000 complaints reported in 2022. Total losses in those attacks exceeded 10.3 billion.
Other top cyber crimes include personal data breaches, non-payment requests and extortion.
While the healthcare industry remains the costliest for breaches, cyberattacks on schools have also increased.
While they wreak havoc on educational instruction, they also have major impacts on students, their families and teachers.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office says the attacks cause monetary loss ranging from $50,000 to $1 million. On average, recovery time can take anywhere from two to nine months.
"School staff need to be educated on phishing and other attempts because they’re the ones who are probably presenting the greatest risk to the school at large for emails that come through where links get clicked on," said Protect Young Eyes Founder and CEO Chris McKenna.
Back in 2021, a vendor for Chicago Public Schools was a victim of a ransomware attack. More than 50,000 students' and staff members' personal information was disclosed ranging from dates of birth, identification numbers and even course information was disclosed.
In January of this year, Des Moines Public Schools was part of a ransomware attack where it was forced to take all networked systems offline. Almost 6,700 students and staff were impacted, and school was canceled.
"Student data is valuable data to marketers, extremely valuable data. Therefore, it is at risk," said McKenna.
U.S. Senator Gary Peters has been a key player in enhancing cybersecurity assistance to K-12 educational institutions across the country.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) compiled its first comprehensive report on how schools can improve their cybersecurity defenses. It was required by a bipartisan law written by Peters.
