Ransomware is Finding More Success in Education

ransomware education

Ransomware is one of the fastest growing malware threats and can cause major financial damages to any company that falls victim. Educational institutions have become a primary target for cybercriminals, and the threat continues to rise. Cybercriminals shut down important systems and can end up shutting schools and education facilities down for days and prevent teachers and students from gaining access to their assignments or lesson plans. More often than not, schools are paying astronomical recovery fees to release the data to restore their systems and recover data.

Why Ransomware Attacks Educational Institutions More Than Businesses

Because schools are more willing to pay the fees, cybercriminals have been more motivated to focus ransomware more on the school system. Education institutions house a large amount of personal data on their students, professors, and parents that are valuable to a hacker. If the school did not pay the ransom, hackers could sell the data on the black market for a sizable sum of money.

Schools are a goldmine for attackers as many schools lack strong cyber security to prevent these attacks from occurring. The recovery bill for ransomware for education is incredibly high. In comparison, higher education has spent 1.42 million to recover from ransomware attacks, whereas the global average is $1.4 million. 

While it’s never recommended that any institution pay out the ransomware, it’s no surprise that schools are more likely to pay. Schools rely entirely on their data, and if the network and allow records are suddenly made unavailable due to a ransomware attack, any action from within the school is impossible. 

Even though ransomware can halt school operations, paying the hackers is terrible. The data encrypted by hackers through ransomware is rarely fully recovered after an attack. The success ransomware has received encourages cybercriminals to continue attacking educational institutions.

Although ransomware is more common in educational institutions, it can happen to any industry or organization anytime. It’s important to take the ransomware risk seriously and ensure your business’s cyber security is consistently monitored for signs of a potential threat. 

Protecting your business from ransomware requires a dual approach. You need to secure your infrastructure with preventative measures and regular employee training on the importance of cybersecurity. Your IT team should proactively monitor your network to catch any incoming issues before they create a major problem. 

Wheelhouse IT can help you focus on your business while we manage your cyber security. You can rely on us to protect you against ransomware and other risks that threaten business operations. Learn more by contacting us at 954.474.2204. 

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3 Programs That Help Teach Software Development Skills

3 Programs That Help Teach Software Development Skills

Even if coding isn’t your cup of tea, the knowledge of how to read it can be quite useful. Since the Internet is a thing with plentiful resources, there is no shortage of options for learning more about code. We’ll outline some of the best options for how to foster these skills and increase the knowledge you have on this topic.

In particular, knowing a little bit about code can help you with hiring new talent. You want your developers and web designers to know their code, so knowing a little yourself can help you weed out the unqualified candidates. Of course, this is just one use of this knowledge. Here are some of the resources you can use to make this opportunity happen.

MIT OpenCourseWare

This particular resource was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to share knowledge of various past courses offered at the university. The best part of this is that it is free,making it accessible to all. The information provided includes lectures, notes,and plenty of other materials.

Something to note however is that this particular resource is aimed more at the intermediate level of experience rather than the beginner level, but with the right resources, you can get a working knowledge of code and work your way up.

Udemy

Udemy offers paid courses for a variety of topics and subjects. These are generally presented in a video format. Users find these lessons quite easy to understand, as they tend to take an educational approach to the content delivery.

Udemy offers courses for all skill levels, and it provides all of the resources you need to get started.With plenty of pricing options available, you can find the sources that best suit your needs. Udemy even has a Udemy for Business section that can help your organization with Team Plans. These are billed annually at a rate of $240/user,so as long as you have at least five employees who are interested, it can be quite valuable. There is also an enterprise plan available, but the cost will vary depending on the number of users.

edX For Business

edX is a great tool for education purposes that can help you with just about any subject out there. Computer science and other IT-related topics are available for your viewing.

With specialized plans that provide your employees with many different topics related to your business, you can focus on employee education in a way that may not have been possible previously. Better yet, the cost of the enrollment codes will actually scale to your specific business needs, making it a truly scalable solution.

Ultimately, the best solution for your business will depend on your specific needs, so do your research beforehand and you can’t go wrong with your choice. To learn more about how to better your business, keep an eye on WheelHouse IT’s blog.