The education sector is the main target for cybercriminals due to its large amount of data and limited security measures

September 3 (Portaltic/EP) –

Schools and universities have become prime targets for cybercriminals, mainly due to the huge amount of data they manage and often inadequate security measures.

From the beginning of the year to the end of July, the education and research sector has been the target of an average of 1,491 attacks per week per institution in Spain. Globally, 3,086 have been recorded, which represents an increase of 37 percent compared to the previous year, compared to the next most attacked sector, the government and the military.

The Asia-Pacific region has seen the most cyberattacks against companies in the education/research sector since the beginning of the year, with 6,002 attacks per company per week. Europe came in third place, with 2,804 attacks per company per week, an increase of 18 percent. However, North America saw the largest year-over-year increase of 127 percent.

“This spike demonstrates the critical need for robust cybersecurity measures and increased awareness in educational institutions to protect sensitive data and maintain operational integrity,” said Eusebio Nieva, technical director of Check Point Software for Spain and Portugal, in a press release.

In addition, 12,234 new domains related to schools were created in July, as shown in the latest report from Check Point Research, which also includes the main reasons why educational centres are targeted by cybercriminals.

As researchers point out, the large amount of personal data that educational institutions hold is one of their great attractions. This is because, in addition to employees, there are also students.

Students are not employees subject to strict corporate guidelines about appropriate network access. They bring their own devices to campus, work from shared student accommodation, and connect to free public WiFi networks without thinking about security risks.