Schools and Colleges Emerges as a Prime Target for Threat Actors

Educational institutions worldwide are facing an unprecedented wave of sophisticated cyber attacks, with the education sector ranked as the third-most targeted industry in Q2 2024, according to Microsoft. This alarming trend reveals a strategic shift in threat actors’ focus, as they increasingly exploit the unique vulnerabilities inherent to academic environments. Between April and September 2024, […] The post Schools and Colleges Emerges as a Prime Target for Threat Actors appeared first on Cyber Security News.

Apr 15, 2025 - 05:33

Schools and Colleges Emerges as a Prime Target for Threat Actors

Educational institutions worldwide are facing an unprecedented wave of sophisticated cyber attacks, with the education sector ranked as the third-most targeted industry in Q2 2024, according to Microsoft.

This alarming trend reveals a strategic shift in threat actors’ focus, as they increasingly exploit the unique vulnerabilities inherent to academic environments.

Between April and September 2024, educational institutions consistently ranked among the top three most attacked industries by China-aligned APT groups, top two for North Korea-aligned actors, and within the top six for both Iran and Russia-aligned threat operators.

The scale of this crisis is starkly illustrated by recent statistics showing 71% of UK secondary schools and a staggering 97% of universities experienced serious security breaches over the past year—significantly higher than the 50% rate observed in businesses.

In the United States, the situation appears equally dire, with more than one cyber incident occurring per school day between 2016 and 2022, according to the K12 Security Information Exchange (SIX).

ESET researchers have detected a perfect storm of vulnerabilities making educational institutions particularly attractive targets.

These include expansive, porous networks connecting thousands of users, repositories of highly monetizable personal and research data, and critically limited security resources.

The combination creates ideal conditions for both financially-motivated cybercriminals and state-sponsored espionage campaigns targeting intellectual property.

One particularly sophisticated attack vector involves advanced persistent threat (APT) groups employing complex evasion techniques. The Iran-aligned group Ballistic Bobcat (also known as APT35 or Mint Sandstorm) has been observed implementing multi-stage attacks that specifically target educational networks.

Their methodology involves process injection techniques where malicious code is inserted into legitimate system processes to evade detection.

Process Injection Techniques

The threat actors’ attack chain begins with carefully crafted phishing campaigns, often utilizing QR codes embedded in communications that appear to be legitimate educational materials such as financial aid forms, parking passes, or administrative notifications.

Once initial access is achieved, the malware employs sophisticated detection evasion tactics. ESET researchers documented cases where APT35 operators inject malicious code into innocuous system processes, effectively bypassing endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions.

This technique allows the malware to establish persistence while remaining undetected, as the injected code operates within the context of legitimate processes that security solutions typically trust.

The malware employs multiple modular components that work in conjunction to maintain stealth, exfiltrate sensitive research data, and potentially deploy ransomware payloads that have cost US educational institutions an estimated $2.5 billion in downtime alone since 2018.

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