August 28, 2025

Back to School, Ready for Cyber Threats

A Message from the Cyber Readiness Institute and the National Student Clearinghouse

As colleges and universities welcome students back for a new academic year, the Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) and the National Student Clearinghouse are joining forces to emphasize a crucial element of campus safety: cyber readiness.

Ransomware attacks against schools, colleges and universities rose 23%1 year-over-year in the first half of 2025. Hackers are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence, or AI, to create more sophisticated and scalable attacks against higher education institutions. These attacks can use students, faculty, or administrators to gain access to the networks and critical data.

Here are some ways hackers are using AI to target these institutions:

  • Advanced phishing and social engineering: AI is being used to create compelling and personalized phishing emails and texts. It can generate authentic-sounding messages tailored to specific individuals or departments that use details gleaned from publicly available information. As a result, these attacks are much more difficult to identify than traditional scams. One specific method is email compromise, where the hackers create a message containing links that appear to be from a teacher or student you know.
  • Credential stuffing: Hackers can use AI to predict logins by analyzing user behavior and institutional naming conventions—such as common formats for IDs or email addresses. This makes it easier to crack weak or reused passwords, putting sensitive academic and personal data at risk.
  • Supply chain attacks: Colleges often rely on a wide network of third-party vendors, from cloud providers to research partners. Attackers can use AI to compromise a vendor’s account or spoof a supplier’s domain. This gives them a trusted entry point into the institution’s ecosystem.

“As higher education institutions face budget cuts and staffing shortages, IT departments can feel overwhelmed ensuring school staff have the necessary training to identify and prevent cyberattacks in order to mitigate the events that might otherwise lead to the school having to respond to one,” said John Ramsey, Chief Information and Security Officer at the National Student Clearinghouse. He added, “However, these steps are crucial because school staff, such as those in administration and registrar offices, are the frontline of defense against hackers.” The National Student Clearinghouse, a not-for-profit organization, is the trusted source for authenticated and secure education data insights, verifications, and electronic education record exchanges.

CRI is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to empower small and medium-sized enterprises and their people with free tools and resources to help them become more cyber secure and resilient. The Institute stresses the importance of human behavior and recommends that organizations focus on four core areas to enhance their cyber readiness:

  1. Phishing Awareness: Cybercriminals often use deceptive emails to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information. It’s crucial to train faculty, staff, and students to recognize and report phishing attempts.
  2. Passwords+ and Multifactor Authentication: Strong, unique passwords are the first line of defense against unauthorized access. Colleges should encourage users to employ complex passwords that are at least 15 characters long. They should also use multifactor authentication (MFA) to add an important layer of security. MFA requires the user to provide two or more forms of identification to access their account. Variations on MFA include passwordless authentication, such as biometrics (like fingerprints and facial recognition) and one-time passcodes (sent via text or generated by an authenticator app).
  3. Secure Storage and File Sharing: Understanding where and how sensitive data should be stored and shared is paramount. Institutions should provide clear guidelines and tools for secure collaboration and data management. Sharing information through the use of USBs should be discouraged.
  4. Software Updates: Regularly updating software and operating systems patches to prevent known vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Establishing a consistent update schedule is a fundamental security practice. This needs to happen at the institution, faculty, and student levels, and should cover both institution-issued and personal devices.

“The new school year presents a fresh opportunity for higher education institutions to reinforce their cybersecurity posture,” said Sasha Pailet Koff, Managing Director of the Cyber Readiness Institute. “By focusing on foundational behaviors, we can significantly reduce the risk of successful attacks. It’s about creating an environment where security is a shared responsibility.”

In 2024, a staggering 66% of higher education institutions worldwide reported experiencing a cyberattack.2 The impact of these breaches was profound, with many institutions experiencing significant business disruptions, recovery costs, and revenue losses. Perhaps most alarming is the financial toll. The average ransom paid by higher education institutions in 2024 was an astonishing $3.76 million (more than double the $1.59 million average reported in 2023).2 And attacks are up with the education sector experiencing a 69% increase in attacks during the first quarter of 2025 vs. the first quarter of 2024.3 This underscores the urgent need for institutions to implement stronger cybersecurity measures.

“Building a culture of cyber readiness isn’t just about implementing security tools. It’s about empowering every individual on campus to be a line of defense,” said Ramsey. “This requires consistent education and making security an integral part of the everyday experience.”

“A proactive approach to these four areas can significantly reduce an institution’s attack surface,” noted Koff. “By embedding these practices into the daily routines of everyone on campus, we can collectively strengthen the security posture of the entire higher education ecosystem.”

Ramsey added, “The Clearinghouse is committed to working with academic institutions to enhance their cyber readiness. We believe that a collaborative effort, grounded in education and awareness, is the most effective way to safeguard sensitive data and maintain the trust of our students and stakeholders.”

This academic year, let’s make cyber readiness a priority. By embracing a culture of security awareness and focusing on these core principles, higher education institutions can better protect themselves and their communities from the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.

1https://www.highereddive.com/news/ransomware-attacks-education-jump-23-percent-h1-2025/754011/

2https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2024/07/11/the-state-of-ransomware-in-education-2024/

3https://www.comparitech.com/news/ransomware-roundup-q1-2025

About CRI

The Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI) is an initiative that convenes business leaders from across sectors and geographic regions to share resources and knowledge that inform the development of free cybersecurity tools for small and medium-sized businesses. Advancing the cyber readiness of small and medium-sized businesses improves the security of global value chains.

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