The shift to virtual and hybrid teaching, learning, work, and services brought on by the pandemic (and which continues today) has accelerated cybersecurity risks for education institutions of all levels.

While data breaches are common across all industries, the risk for education is particularly acute given the sensitivity of students, faculty, staff, and research data. The increase in individuals accessing school systems outside of the campus and on personal devices has increased the threat surface exponentially. Adding in the fact that many institutions are understaffed and/or have insufficient security measures in place makes universities and schools attractive, lucrative, and easy targets for cyber criminals.

Cisco Thought Leadership in Education

Uncertainty has become the new normal for our customers, and they are making investments to strengthen their security resilience.

We encourage you to read our new thought leadership paper, titled "Why a new approach to security is needed in education," where we explore:

• The education cybersecurity landscape
• How to focus on a strategy of security resiliency
• Points of consideration when assessing your cyber readiness
• Actionable next steps to address your education institution's security needs