June 8, 2024 | less than a minute read

Schools Under (Cyber) Attack

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Peter K. Fagen

Partner

Get in touch

Peter K. Fagen

Partner

A startling number and percentage of schools have been the target of cyberattacks. At F3 Law we have seen this in our school district client base and the number is increasing each year. The attorneys in our Education Technology Practice Group have worked with many districts over the last few years to resolve the issues raised by these attacks.

Some good news on this front is that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has created a grant program where schools may be able to access funds to help combat and hopefully eliminate these cyberattacks.

Cyberattacks, which can cost districts millions of dollars and days or weeks of missed learning time, are becoming an increasingly severe problem for school districts. Eighty percent of K-12 schools have been targeted by ransomware in the past year, according to a survey of IT professionals conducted last year by Sophos, a cybersecurity firm. That’s a higher percentage than any other industry surveyed, including health care and financial services.