A mix of understaffing in IT, lagging security standards and limited funding to improve both have long made the education sector a prime target for hackers due to the amount of valuable personal data available. Ransomware attacks, in which valuable files and systems are encrypted and locked until a ransom is paid, are particularly popular.

Over the last two years, the threat has become even more compounded as the coronavirus pandemic forced a seismic shift in the ed tech landscape nationwide as schools boosted their broadband infrastructure and adopted 1:1 device programs. With more tech comes more opportunity for bad actors to take advantage of blind spots in school networks.

To help you get up to speed, we've gathered a selection of coverage below.