Ransomware attacks double against global universities

Cypersecurity company BlueVoyant reported that global ransomware attacks against universities doubled year-on-year in 2020 as the pandemic forced massive changes to higher education, writes Phil Muncaster for Infosecurity Magazine.

The security vendor’s latest Cybersecurity in Higher Education report is compiled from an analysis of 2,702 universities across 43 countries, covering the period January 2019 to September 2020. It found that ransomware was the number one threat last year, with attacks increasing 100% and average pay-outs totalling nearly US$450,000.

Many universities have been forced to switch to remote teaching and learning during the COVID-19 crisis, increasing their exposure to certain threats, BlueVoyant claimed. The surge in ransomware could partly be explained by the fact that over a fifth (22%) of all analysed universities and colleges had open or unsecured remote desktop ports (RDPs). What’s more, two-thirds (66%) lacked protocols like SPF, DKIM and DMARC to help guard against phishing. These tend to be the top two vectors for ransomware.
Full report on the Infosecurity site