GoKawiilThreats against the education sector have mounted over the past five years and are becoming even more widespread, as attackers set their sights on educational technology (edtech) vendors. Rather than conducting ransomware or other attacks against an individual school or district, cyberattackers now target learning management systems (LMS) and other educational applications to victimize hundreds, if not thousands, of institutions in one fell swoop.
The attack by Shiny Hunters against Instructure's LMS Canvas earlier this year — forcing the Canvas platform offline during a time when many students had final examinations — is a prime example of how disruptive these attacks can be. The gang also claimed responsibility for not one but two attacks against Instructure in one month.
This was not the first attack against edtech. Two years prior, Powerschool, an edtech cloud-based platform for K-12, gave into ransom demands following a data breach where threat actors took off with students' names, Social Security numbers, medical information, and academic records.
Related:Processes & Culture Top Reasons Behind Data Breaches
It's that kind of high-value information, combined with the institution's often limited security resources, that makes targeting edtech so appealing to cyberattackers. That doesn't mean higher education institutions with more resources escape scrutiny. The innovative research data at those institutions is attractive to attackers, too.
Three reporters — Dark Reading's Arielle Waldman, TechTarget SearchSecurity's Sharon Shea, and Cybersecurity Dive's Eric Geller — share what they've learned while speaking to industry experts on how the edtech ecosystem and the relationship between vendors and educational organizations will evolve. Companies and organizations could start pushing to add specific cybersecurity requirements into their contracts with the vendors.
Learn more in the video transcript below, and check out other episodes in the Reporters' Notebook series for insights and coverage from across Informa TechTarget's three cybersecurity publications.
Arielle Waldman, Eric Geller & Sharon Shea: Full Video Transcript
This transcript has been edited for clarity and length by Informa TechTarget's internal AI assistant. For the full experience, please watch the video.
Dark Reading's Arielle Waldman: Hi, everyone, welcome to another edition of the Reporters' Notebook. Today we're going to be discussing the education sector and all the issues that they've been facing. My name is Arielle Waldman and I'm a features writer for Dark Reading. I have Sharon Shea and Eric Geller with me. Would you like to introduce yourselves?
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