Subj : Almost half of UK higher education institutions experience a cybe
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Fri Oct 11 2024 06:15:05

Almost half of UK higher education institutions experience a cyberattack 
every week

Date:
Fri, 11 Oct 2024 05:02:00 +0000

Description:
Universities and institutions are reporting a cyberattack at least once a 
week, Microosft says.

FULL STORY
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The education sector continues to be plagued by malicious threats, with new 
research from Microsoft claiming nearly half (43%) of UK higher education 
institutions experience weekly breaches or cyberattacks. 

The company's latest Cyber Signals Report claims Universities are prime 
targets for malware, IoT vulnerabilities, and phishing - with an average of 
2,507 cyberattack attempts per week according to the report. 

This makes education the third most targeted industry for attacks, behind 
manufacturing and consumer retail. A high price 

The report identified email systems and networks as a vulnerability for 
universities since they offer wide spaces for compromise. The need for 
constant communication both within and outside of the school networks leaves 
space for external user attacks. 

Since higher education facilities hold sensitive information on students and 
staff but dont have huge cybersecurity budgets, they have become an 
attractive target for threat actors who look to exfiltrate the data for 
ransom. 

Recent research shows schools and universities are paying higher ransoms than 
ever before, with over two-thirds (67%) of IT leaders working in higher 
education reporting ending up paying more than what hackers originally asked 
for. 

Educational institutions feel a sense of responsibility to remain open and 
continue providing their services to their communities. These two factors 
could be contributing to why victims feel so much pressure to pay, said 
Chester Wisniewski, Director at Sophos. 

Microsofts research also uncovered nation state actors which have targeted 
education institutions. For example, Iranian state actors such as Peach 
Sandstorm and Mint Sandstorm have both been observed to use social 
engineering attacks. 

The types of threats that were seeing, the types of events that are occurring 
in higher education, are much more aggressive by cyber adversaries, commented 
Davis McMorries, Chief Information Security Officer at Oregon State 
University. 

In particular, around 15000 malicious QR code emails target the industry 
every day. More from TechRadar Pro Take a look at some of the best antivirus 
software Microsoft warns US healthcare of threat actor using new ransomware 
Check out our pick for best malware removal software



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/almost-half-of-uk-higher-education-institutions-
experience-a-cyberattack-every-week


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