Sep 02, 2021 06:00:00

In 2020 alone, 730 billion yen worth of ransomware damage was brought to schools and educational institutions

Ransomware has caused serious damage all over the world, especially in the United States, as the US government has begun to take the

lead not only in governments and large corporations but also in companies and organizations that are directly connected to people's lives such as food producers and medical institutions. Raises the threat of ransomware to the same level as terrorism and increases vigilance. A report analyzing ransomware attacks targeting such American schools and universities revealed that in 2020 alone, educational institutions suffered $ 6.62 billion in damages. ..

Ransomware attacks on US schools and colleges cost $ 6.62bn in 2020 --Comparitech
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/school-ransomware-attacks/

Below is a map showing 'Ransomware attacks on schools and universities that occurred from 2018 to June 2021' released by American cyber security company Comparetech. The red circle represents the location of the school district affected by the ransomware, and the size of the circle represents the number of educational institutions affected.

In particular, in 2020, educational institutions in the southern and western United States were severely damaged. Below is a color-coded map of the number of 'ransomware attacks on schools and universities in 2020' by state. The state that suffered the most damage was Texas in the southern United States, where 10 ransomware attacks, or 13% of the total, were reported. The next most damaging was California, in the western United States, with nine ransomware attacks.

According to Comparitech, it is estimated that more than 1740 schools and universities were targeted by ransomware attacks in 2020, with the number of affected educational institutions increasing by 39% from 2019. .. The number of students affected by ransomware is estimated to have increased 67% year-on-year to 1,358,035.

The amount of damage to ransomware varies from $ 10,000 (about 1.1 million yen) to $ 1 million (about 110 million yen), and in some cases the damage was minimized due to frequent backups. In some cases, it took several months to recover. In general, the ransomware-attacked school system was down for an average of 7 days, and recovery took an average of 55.4 days.

In addition, the amount of ransom received by the hacker who attacked the ransomware was at least $ 1,909,058 (about 210 million yen), and the total amount of direct and indirect damage suffered by the educational institution was 6.6 billion. It is estimated to have reached $ 20 million.

Comparitech summarized the findings: 'Our survey conducted 222 ransomware attacks between January 2018 and June 2021 alone, with 3880 schools and universities and 3.04 million students studying there. It turns out that nearly a few students have been affected. Ransomware attacks are expected to increase further in the coming months, as it often takes time for the damage to go public. '.

In addition, since many ransomware attacks are reported every year on Labor Day (Worker's Day) in early September, the FBI and the Cyber Security Infrastructure Security Agency jointly issued a recommendation. We urge public institutions, including schools, and private companies to be especially vigilant against cyberattacks.