Schools and colleges are top targets of cybercriminals in 2024

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With school back in session for many districts across the country, there's a lot for parents to juggle, from packing lunches to carpools to getting to bed on time. It's easy to understand why preventing identity theft isn't top of mind.

But perhaps it should be.

Cybersecurity company Check Point Software found that the education sector is the most targeted industry this year to date, with attacks up 37% compared to 2023.

The average number of weekly attacks on education tops government, health care, and even finance and banking.

Check Point's Chris Nottingham said sectors such as health care and education used to be somewhat off-limits to criminals.

"Cybercrime is a business they're looking to expand," Nottingham said. "What they found is that certain sectors like education do not have good cybersecurity controls in place."

Keeping up with the most effective cybersecurity software may be out of reach for many of the nation's school districts.

"The mission of most educational institutions is providing education, not necessarily around having top-notch cybersecurity," Nottingham said.

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Children's personal information is an easy target, Nottingham said. Since kids aren't applying for credit cards and home loans, credit fraud may go undetected for years.

"Your child gets ready to open up their first student loan or car loan and they're immediately rejected for their credit," Nottingham said, "because they have this fake credit history that's been built up by criminals over time."

To help protect your child's identity, Nottingham recommends the following steps:

• Freeze your child's credit reports
• Include children's names in any identity monitoring services you've signed up for in the past

"There is no minimum age to start protecting your personal information and your identity," Nottingham said.
Cybersecurity services are expensive, so don't expect resources to change overnight. The best thing parents or college students can do for now is to ask their school or institution about the cybersecurity controls that are in place.

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