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The ubiquity of ransomware attacks -

In 2024, the concept of a ransomware attack is nothing new. Indeed, for as long as valuable information has been stored on computers, ransomware incidents have been occurring.

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What happens in a ransomware attack -

For those not familiar, a ransomware attack is when cyber criminals hack into a computer system that holds valuable, and usually sensitive, data.

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Huge amounts of money involved -

The hackers take control of the system and threaten to share or sell the data if the victim does not pay them a (normally enormous) amount of money.

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Attacks on schools -

While ransomware attacks are indeed old news, the type of victims that attackers are targeting does appear to be shifting. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of attacks on private schools.

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Sensitive children's data -

In most cases, criminals hack into the school system and threaten to share sensitive data relating to the pupils on the dark web, if the school does not pay the ransom.

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Recent case -

One of the biggest recent cases involved the Association of Independent Schools in New South Wales, Australia.

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It started with a search -

The case came about when an employee of the school searched online for the education sector’s enterprise agreement.

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Falling for a fake site -

When she made the search, the top result was a fake site that had been sponsored so it would appear first in the search results.

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Clicking the link -

The employee clicked on the link, and it took her to a ‘honey pot’ website, which was designed very cleverly to look like an online forum.

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Downloading the file -

Once she was in the online forum, the employee downloaded a file that she believed was a copy of the enterprise agreement that had been shared by another user.

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Malware file -

In fact, however, the file was malware, which, once downloaded, allowed the cyber criminals to have access to the school’s system for a period of three days.

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ASD opinion -

According to the Australian Signal’s Directorate (ASD), in this case the access was not used to take over the school’s network.

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The attackers' intentions -

Rather, the ASD believes that the hackers planned on selling the access to another group of cyber criminals who, in turn, would use it for ransomware.

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Successful damage limitation -

Thankfully, the Association of Independent Schools managed to isolate the device and contain the issue within the space of two hours.

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Potentially catastrophic -

If they had not been alerted to the incident by the ASD, the consequences of the attack could have been catastrophic for the organization and the pupils to whom the data belongs.

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Lancaster attack -

Another recent attack happened in July 2024 at a school in Lancaster, England. It was the day before they were due to go on break for the holidays. IT staff noticed something peculiar.

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Shutting down the system -

Upon noticing something was wrong, IT began to shut parts of the system down. When they realized something bigger was going on, they shut it down entirely.

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Seeking advice -

Again, in this instance, the school was able to react very quickly, and within an hour they had experts on the phone giving them advice.

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Rebuilding the system -

They had to take down the whole system and rebuild it from scratch with more extensive security measures in place. Thankfully, there was no lasting damage.

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A professional job -

According to sources that were close to the event, it seemed the attack was perpetrated by professionals and that they wanted the school to pay a ransom.

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Protective measures -

So, what can schools do to protect themselves against ransomware attacks? Firstly, it is important to install robust backup systems so that data can be quickly recovered in the event of an attack.

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Regular audits -

Secondly, schools should conduct regular security audits. These can help identify weaknesses and updates needed for any systems that are vulnerable to exploitation.

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Anti-virus software -

It's also very important to use anti-malware and anti-virus software. This should be updated regularly to ensure that it functions properly.

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Training -

Staff and students should also receive training on data security and how to follow the best practices. This should include awareness about phishing attacks.

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Role-based access -

When it comes to sensitive data, schools should introduce a role-based access control system. This will ensure that only authorized persons have access to critical data.

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Password policy -

There should also be a strong password policy and, wherever possible, two-factor authentication should be used to prevent unauthorized access to data.

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Disaster recovery plan -

It is also imperative that schools implement a disaster recovery plan, so as to ensure that they can get back up and running again quickly if an attack were to happen.

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Cyber insurance -

Finally, schools should consider investing in cyber insurance policy. The upfront cost can be high, but it will quickly pay for itself if anything does go wrong.

Sources: (BBC) (CSO)

See also: How not to get scammed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

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