Schools Spend Available Funds Strategically
The report indicated that most school districts do not have funding dedicated to cybersecurity, with 61% of respondents using general funds to pay for cybersecurity efforts. A majority of districts (78%) are investing in monitoring, detection and response solutions, with 65% investing in endpoint protection. Additionally, 71% of respondents reported a change to their cyber insurance policies in the past year, with 59% experiencing an increase in premiums.
K–12 IT security teams are notoriously understaffed, which could explain why 44% of districts are outsourcing cybersecurity monitoring — the most commonly outsourced IT function.
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K–12 Threats Include Phishing and Ransomware Risks
Report authors suggest that because of these investments, ed tech leaders might be less likely to perceive threats as high risk. Respondents’ biggest concern is phishing, with 27% seeing it as a high-risk threat. Ransomware attacks and unauthorized disclosure of student data were seen as the next highest risks by 13% of respondents.
The report notes that despite leaders’ perceptions, risks are still high across the board for K–12 districts, particularly as federal funding cuts and policy changes impact the sector.
