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Why Cybersecurity Risk Management Is Critical for Schools in 2026

  • By Charlie Sander
  • 01/28/26

Key Takeaways

  • Cyber incidents are widespread in K–12 schools: In an 18-month period, 82% of K–12 schools reported a cyber incident, with ransomware and phishing among the most common attacks and volumes rising year over year.
  • Attack methods and impacts are escalating: Threat groups are increasingly exploiting third-party cloud services, using ransomware-as-a-service, data exfiltration, and living-off-the-land tactics, while the average ransomware recovery cost for K–12 schools reached $2.28 million in 2024.
  • Cloud-based environments increase monitoring demands: Schools rely heavily on cloud services, shared logins, and third-party apps, requiring visibility into login events, file activity, OAuth permissions, and data flows across district-wide, remote, and BYOD devices.

Since many schools hold student records, as well as financial and health information, they have become attractive targets for hackers looking to profit from identity theft and data resale. In just 18 months, 82% of K–12 schools reported a cyber incident, and these attacks are rising year-over-year.

Volume isn't all that's on educational leaders' minds, either. The severity of attacks is also increasing as threat groups shift from simple network disruption to the exploitation of third-party cloud services that schools rely on daily. Ransomware and phishing attacks are among the most common. In 2024, the average ransomware recovery cost for K-12 schools was $2.28 million, the highest among targeted sectors, underscoring the stakes involved.

Adding to the challenge, many schools are under-resourced in terms of cybersecurity. Limited IT staffing, constrained budgets, and a mix of legacy and newer systems make implementing robust, consistent protections complicated.

Compounding these vulnerabilities, today's schools rely heavily on digital tools, cloud services, shared logins, and third-party educational platforms, which further expand the attack surface. The combination of high-value data, sophisticated threats, and operational complexity makes cybersecurity risk management a top priority for 2026.

What Schools Need to Know Right Now

The risks to current school digital environments demand the attention of administrators, IT leaders, and education decision-makers alike. Most school districts are likely to experience at least one incident, and it's important that all stakeholders know their role, what to look out for, and how to respond before breaches escalate.

When breaches happen, it doesn't just expose sensitive student and staff data or trigger compliance issues; it undermines trust with parents and imposes heavy recovery costs.

From phishing campaigns and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) kits to exploits targeting cloud platforms and third-party apps, the growing attack surface makes protection increasingly complex, and not all vendors maintain compatible security.

Schools need to have the necessary oversight in place across the entire network to ensure unfamiliar logins, unexpected file encryptions, or malicious e-mails with suspicious links are detected. This task becomes trickier with phishing, for example, as it advances and fools many traditional defenses.

Meanwhile, RaaS has moved beyond simple encryption attacks to now involve data exfiltration (stealing before encrypting), followed by double- or even triple-extortion. This is where hackers threaten to leak sensitive data, publish it, or combine with denial-of-service if ransom isn't paid.

Attackers are also embedding ransomware within malware that uses legitimate tools or system functions, also known as "living-off-the-land" tactics, to evade detection methods from common cybersecurity tools.

Schools must find ways to overcome staffing and budget constraints to ensure sufficient monitoring and response workflows are in place to avoid the massive disruption and cost that come with these attacks.

Why a Cloud Monitor Approach Works for Schools

Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are two of the most commonly used cloud services in K‑12 school districts. However, IT leaders must also account for integrated cloud drives, such as OneDrive and SharePoint, sharing permissions, login events, third‑party app authorizations (OAuth), and behaviors tied to phishing, malware, account takeovers, data loss prevention, and student‑safety signals.

Given the evolving cyber risks and the shift to cloud-based infrastructure, a cloud monitoring tool offers several advantages when implemented with care and transparency. It is a system that oversees cloud usage, data flows, and access patterns across integrated networks.

One thing to look out for when choosing a cloud monitor is whether they use API integrations, rather than device agents, proxies, or browser extensions. This enables the monitoring system to "see inside" cloud applications, even when users are off the school network or using different devices.

Some cloud monitoring tools will also come with features that are able to detect and revoke risky third‑party app permissions, scan for suspicious OAuth authorizations, and enforce data‑loss prevention rules automatically. This helps under-resourced IT teams as they don't need to manually monitor every app or permission.

It's also important that the cloud monitor can scale across a district, and that deployment does not rely on local agents or hardware. This means it can cover devices across a district, including remote, 1:1, and BYOD students, without requiring complex installations or ongoing maintenance at each school site. For schools on a tight budget, this reduces IT overheads as new features can be applied centrally, without the need to purchase extra hardware or dedicate IT staff to manage installations in multiple schools.

As schools lean ever more heavily on digital systems, the ability to monitor, manage, and protect cloud-based infrastructure becomes crucial for keeping school data safe, avoiding fines and ransom, and maintaining trust among their community. In 2026, with rising attack volumes expected and increasingly sophisticated threats, cloud risk management is a necessary part of your school district's technology infrastructure.

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