DDoS Attacks on Education Sector Increase by 350%

According to analysts at Kaspersky Lab, the number of DDoS attacks targeting educational resources in Russia sharply increased in the first half of 2020. From January to June 2020, the number of attacks was more than 350% higher compared to the same period the previous year.

The most significant spike was recorded in January, when DDoS attacks on educational portals rose by 550% compared to January 2019. By the end of the academic year in May, every second DDoS attack (49%) was aimed at the education sector. Although this figure naturally decreased in June, it still remained quite high at 19%.

Growth in Phishing and Fake Applications

In addition, the first half of 2020 saw a rise in phishing pages imitating popular online learning platforms and fake video conferencing applications. From January to June, 168,500 unique users of Kaspersky Lab products encountered such malicious resources.

“Usually, cybercriminals targeting educational portals ‘take a break’ until September. This time, the pandemic changed the situation: all students and schoolchildren switched to remote learning and began using digital resources even more actively. As a result, the number of potential targets for DDoS attacks increased, and phishing campaign organizers ‘turned to science,’ taking advantage of the growing popularity of various online learning services. We are not making any predictions about a decrease in fraudulent activity in this area yet—fall traditionally sees high numbers. Moreover, many schools and universities plan to continue online classes,” commented Alexander Gutnikov, cybersecurity expert at Kaspersky Lab.