India has most cyber attacks on education sector in the world: Report

Schools universities and research centres make for attractive targets for cyber attackers because they tend to lack funds for security. Remote learning has heightened that risk

The education sector in India was attacked significantly more compared to other industries in the month of July globally, experiencing 5,196 attacks per week on average, a new report showed on Wednesday.

By region, organisations in education sector in South Asia experienced the highest volume of attacks. The most targeted countries were India, Italy, Israel, Australia and Turkey, according to Check Point Research (CPR).

"In India, schools, universities and research centres make for attractive targets to cyber criminals because they are often under resourced from a security perspective. The short-notice, on-and-off shift to remote learning exacerbates the security risk," said Sundar Balasubramanian, Managing Director, Check Point, India and SAARC.

The UK region experienced a 142 per cent increase in weekly cyber attacks on its education sector, while the East Asia region marked a 79 per cent increase.

"With so many students logging on from their home networks using their personal devices, the current school season presents a range of new security threats that many aren't prepared to address," he added.

In more than half of the countries studied by CPR, the education sector is the most attacked sector, and in 94 per cent of them, the education sector is in the top three most attacked sectors.

"Organisations in the Indian education sector should be proactive in their protection strategies. It's important to constantly change and strengthen your passwords and use technologies that prevent cyberattacks, such as ransomware," Balasubramanian added.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!