In 2019, a new stage of cyberattacks began.

Before COVID-19 hit, colleges and universities typically had sound online security policies and provisions in place to protect against cyber threats. But after pandemic restrictions were put into place and schools had to quickly change their teaching and learning models, transforming into online learning institutions in days, higher education institutions across the country were forced to re-visit their cyber security strategies. 

As a result, many universities and colleges were caught unprepared for the massive shift to remote teaching and learning. They discovered the hard way that they weren’t able to adequately safeguard students, staff and the institution itself from cyberattacks or protect the school’s intellectual property and data from being compromised. 

Colleges and universities present a wealth of opportunities for cyber criminals. The market is enormous. There were 19.7 million college students in the U.S. in the fall of 2020, according to National Center for Education Statistics data. In addition to the students, attackers also look to target faculty members, parents and third-party service providers. In general, cybercriminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated, sneaky, and aggressive and they’re using a mixture of new and tried-and-true and methods like ransomware and malware to go after potential victims. And it’s no wonder these bad actors are working so hard: the rewards can be enormous.