Education Targeted Ransomware

A growing number of ransomware attacks have put how vulnerable K-12 schools and other educational institutions are into the spotlight. These institutes are particularly vulnerable to ransomware because they need to support remote and hybrid learning, which has dramatically increased the attack surface of their networks.

Coupled with budget and resource constraints on their IT operations, these institutions have become, as recently highlighted by federal agencies, a prime target for hackers.

What should you do?

Experiencing an active cyberattack?

If your school or educational institution is currently under attack, Emergency Incident Response can help immediately, whether you’re a Sophos customer or not.

Delivered by an expert team of incident responders, Sophos Emergency Incident Response provides lightning-fast assistance, identifying and neutralizing active threats against organizations. Onboarding starts within hours, and most customers are triaged within 48 hours. Emergency Incident Response is an industry-first, fixed-fee remote incident response service that identifies and neutralizes active cybersecurity attacks throughout its entire 45-day term of engagement.

Get Immediate Help

Get help from human experts

These days, ransomware can be the end of a very long attack cycle where attackers may have already been on systems searching for valuable data to steal. Security tools work best in combination with human expertise, leveraging the know-how of your security analysts to hunt for suspicious indicators and prevent a potential issue. Not all organizations have these skilled resources, so if you need additional assistance from human experts, we’re here to help with our Sophos Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service. Sophos MDR provides 24/7 threat hunting, detection, and response capabilities, delivered by an expert team as a fully-managed service. Going beyond simply notifying you of attacks or suspicious behaviors, the Sophos MDR team takes targeted actions on your behalf to neutralize even the most sophisticated and complex threats, including Ryuk and other ransomware families.

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As you know I am a Sophos evangelist. I believe in Intercept X because it helps meet my cyber security obligations in a cost effective way and allows time outside my \"9 to 5\" job to do social work we are called to do for the people of Brooklyn and Queens.

Gus Garcia

Security and Information Officer, Diocese of Brooklyn

The ability of Sophos endpoint security to communicate directly with the firewall is great because it can look at root cause analysis of a threat and see what came in, where it came from, and how it works. Synchronized Security has saved us a lot of time, money, and heartache—and it’s gratifying to know that things are working together so seamlessly.

Corry Costle

Computer Tech, Washakie County School District 1

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Add Sophos ransomware protection

If you’re not currently a Sophos endpoint customer, you can leverage the advanced protection found in Intercept X free for 30 days, including Sophos’ leading anti-ransomware technologies. The free trial also features our endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, designed to help maintain IT security operations hygiene and hunt down stealthy threats. Furthermore, depending on your region, discounted pricing is available for educational institutes. Reach out to learn more about what you may be eligible for.

Advice for existing Intercept X customers

If you’re an existing Sophos Intercept X customer, ensure that Intercept X is deployed and up to date on every endpoint you’d like to protect – including servers. And while Intercept X is designed to stop targeted ransomware and other advanced attacks, pay close attention to all Sophos Central alerts that surface. Also, be on the lookout for persistent adversaries who will continue to try and breach your organization. Intercept X Advanced with EDR customers should leverage its powerful threat hunting and investigation capabilities that allow you to ask detailed questions so you can hunt for active adversaries and respond to advanced threats across your entire estate.

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Other resources

Home Schooling – How to Stay Secure
Network Security for Education Institutions
MTR Casebook: Blocking a $15 million Maze ransomware attack
Incident Response Guide
Four Key Tips From Incident Response Experts
Endpoint Protection Best Practices to Block Ransomware
Firewall Best Practices to Block Ransomware
They’re back: inside a new Ryuk ransomware attack

Education Targeted Ransomware

What should you do?

Experiencing an active cyberattack?

Get help from human experts

Add Sophos ransomware protection

Advice for existing Intercept X customers

Other resources

Get help from human experts

Other resources

Add Sophos ransomware protection

Advice for existing Intercept X customers

Remote learning: Top five cybersecurity risks for education