Learn from real stats and stories that reveal what schools are up against, and how they’re protecting themselves.
Last Tower Solutions
Education Fact Sheet
Including:​
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1 in 10 U.S. school districts experienced a cyber incident.
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Some attacks led to over 45 days of lost learning.
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Only 12% of districts had dedicated cybersecurity staff.
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Ransomware Attacks
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Phishing attacks resulting in the disclosure of personal data.
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95% of breaches start with a phishing or social engineering attack
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Most schools lack network segmentation or full cloud visibility
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Schools must implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
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Cybersecurity training for staff and students is still underfunded
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The cost of inaction can be months of downtime and student data exposure
PowerSchool, one of the largest K–12 edtech vendors, is facing multiple lawsuits after a major data breach exposed sensitive student and parent info. The breach is being blamed on weak security practices and delayed response times. This is a reminder that even trusted platforms can leave schools vulnerable without strong cybersecurity protocols in place. Want to ensure that your cyber hygiene has improved? Scheduled time with Last Tower Solutions today!
We assist schools and other educational institutions achieve their compliance with NIST, State Audits, HIPPA, COPPA, Comptroller Audits and others. Let Last Tower Solutions be part of your annual compliance goals to ensure your students and staff data is secure.
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Have any questions? Our team is here to help!
Why are schools targeted?
Poor Funding
Budgetary constraints and limited funding often times leaves IT and security second to other more important items. This means out of date technology which often leads to breaches and attacks.
Valuable Data
Researchers are more focused on making groundbreaking discoveries and innovating techniques, their expertise in school cybersecurity may sometimes lag, leaving their research susceptible to data leaks or cyber attacks.
Large Number of Users
A multitude of individuals, including students, faculty, administrators, and more have access to school networks and systems, creating a highly interconnected environment. With such a diverse user base, the wealth of data housed within these networks presents an enticing target for potential breaches.
Vulnerable Tech
Out of date technology and deprecated systems are prolific in a lot of environments but especially schools. Open Source or low-cost insecure technology is the only option sometimes to get things working. If these exist on your network they are a potential target for an adversary to sneak in.
Take a Closer Look
69%
Ransomware attacks against educational institutions jumped 69% year over year, with 81 incidents in Q1  2025 compared to 48 in Q1  2024. This marks one of the sharpest spikes seen in the sector.
32%
32% of ransomware attacks were because of vulnerabilities found in common software. Vulnerabilities are everywhere and should be eliminated. A lack of patch management could potentially threaten your organization.
4.8Months
On average, schools and colleges took 4.8 months to report ransomware related data breaches, which is the longest delay of any sector. This is risking prolonged student data exposure.​
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