I admit it: I was one of those kids who was genuinely excited when back-to-school time rolled around. I couldn't wait to get to the store to buy my new notebooks, multicolored folders, pencils, pens, and highlighters. And the thought of seeing my friends who I hadn't had a chance to see over the summer was the icing on the cake. But much has changed since I went to elementary school. Today, for instance, IT professionals in educational institutions may find this time of year to be less exciting and just a bit more daunting. This is because back-to-school time means a massive spike in user traffic, not to mention a significant uptick in ransomware and other malware attacks.
Due to their notoriously underfunded IT departments, educational institutions are becoming increasingly popular targets for cyber-criminals. Despite possessing a great deal of valuable information (personally identifiable information, student records, protected health information, financial information, etc.), organizations in this sector generally have fewer professionals dedicated to data security and less-than-optimal security technology.
If a ransomware attack occurs, even if the exorbitant ransom can be paid, there really isn't any assurance that the data will be returned and/or not leaked (too many have learned this truth the hard way). In education, government regulations can further intensify the negative impacts of such attacks. Fines and other penalties can be severe in cases of non-compliance with data security under such regulations as:
Even if you are the most skilled and experienced IT professional, there is only so much you can do if you lack the technology needed to get the job done. It's like asking Mario Andretti to win a race, but giving him a car with bicycle wheels on it - ain't gonna happen.
Today, IT professionals are being tasked with protecting their organization's IT infrastructure with outdated, maintenance-intensive technologies like virtual private networks (VPNs), which are not equipped to protect against modern threats that today's sophisticated cyber-criminals can throw at them. Here's why:
In fact, research from Malwarebytes' ransomware specialist, Marcelo Rivero, backs this up - showing that 2023 was the most challenging year on record for ransomware attacks in the education sector, with a 70% surge in attacks.
Organizations in virtually every vertical sector are turning away from VPNs and replacing them with software-defined perimeters (SDP), finding that they can provide superior protection against today's threats. Not only that, they are usually much more affordable and deliver a much greater ROI. At a high level, here's how:
The advantages of SDP for improved security and eventually cost savings are clear. However, an upfront investment is still necessary, and even relatively small investments can seem entirely unattainable for educational institutions that are typically constrained by tight budgets.
Various grant opportunities and funding resources are available to help educational institutions strengthen their cybersecurity efforts. These grants, which can be obtained from federal, state, and private sources, are intended to support K-12 schools and higher education institutions in enhancing their digital infrastructure, implementing cybersecurity measures, and safeguarding against cyber threats.
These programs include:
Also, Grants.gov is a U.S. government website that serves as a centralized platform for finding and applying for federal grants across various agencies, as well as providing advice and guidance for application success.
If you work at a K-12 institution and want a free tool to assess your organization's current cybersecurity strategy, check out the free School Security Assessment Tool (SSAT). Created by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, this tool helps your organization to see how it measures up with best practices. The tool also provides recommendations on where and how to improve your overall approach. You can access this valuable tool right here.
Once you have the budget and/or funding, what should you do?
The ideal software-defined perimeter (SDP) solution should focus on enhancing security, simplifying network management, and improving the performance of applications across distributed environments, such as hybrid or multi-cloud deployments. Key features should include:
If you get your organization's network security up to snuff, what other innovative technologies can be particularly beneficial to the education sector?
Emerging SQL Server container technology should also be on the radar of IT professionals operating in the education industry. IT teams need to look for solutions that make it easier to scale with the massive range of seasonal demands waged on their data environments. New SQL Server container solutions fit this bill by allowing organizations to spin up totally customizable, highly available SQL Server Availability Groups (AGs) in Kubernetes (K8s) in seconds. In addition, these new solutions can provide the ability to create cross-platform hybrid AGs containing instances and containers.
Put another way, SQL Server container technology allows you to move your organization's most critical SQL Server workloads to a flexible, containerized environment while maintaining continuous uptime. For the education sector, it offers the agility to scale your SQL Server environment in real time to meet seasonal demand, ensuring optimal resource utilization. As a result, your organization can enjoy cost savings and free up man-hours to allocate to other business-critical requirements.