The education sector is increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks, particularly from third-party vendors, as highlighted by a surge in data breaches involving ransomware and malware. Institutions often lack the necessary resources and security measures to protect sensitive student data, emphasizing the need for improved third-party risk management and regulatory support.
The most valuable insight for you highlights the critical need for educational institutions to develop robust third-party risk management programs. Specifically, they should ensure that vendors are contractually obligated to provide breach notifications, maintain audit rights, and demonstrate incident-response capabilities. Additionally, schools should control identity management through strong SSO and MFA to safeguard access, even in the event of a third-party breach, while also implementing a continuous vulnerability management and patching strategy.