Industry Overview
Key metrics and compliance landscape.
Key Challenges
Critical security and compliance threats facing your industry.
FERPA Compliance & Student Data Privacy
FERPA violations trigger federal investigations, loss of federal funding (Title IV financial aid = millions annually for higher ed, grants for K-12), and lawsuits from parents. Schools must have written policies, access controls, breach notification procedures, and vendor agreements. Most schools lack compliant programs.
Distance Learning Security
COVID-19 forced rapid adoption of Zoom, Google Classroom, Canvas, Blackboard, Microsoft Teams with zero security hardening. "Zoom bombing" incidents, student data breaches via LMS misconfigurations, unencrypted video recordings with student faces/names stored in public cloud, third-party app integrations leaking student data create FERPA violations and student safety risks.
Ransomware Threat to Schools
67% of K-12 schools hit by ransomware in 2023 (Sophos). Schools are #2 ransomware target after healthcare. Limited IT resources, poor backups, high pressure to restore quickly. Average ransom demands: $50K-$500K. Average downtime: 2-3 weeks. Student data (SSNs, health records, disciplinary files) exfiltrated and threatened for public release.
Limited IT Staff
1 IT director for 500-2,000 students + staff (vs 1:50 ratio in business). IT director handles helpdesk, network, servers, applications, security, compliance with no time for proactive security or strategic planning. When IT director leaves, school has no knowledge transfer, no documentation, and critical systems fail.
Regulatory Landscape
Mandatory and recommended frameworks with enforcement context.
Audit: Event-triggered (parent complaint or breach) or US Department of Education investigation
Audit: FTC complaint-driven or routine audits
Recommended Solutions
Services mapped to your industry's specific challenges.
Proven Outcomes
Real results from organizations in your industry.
Private school (450 students K-12) survived ransomware attack with 8-hour recovery from air-gapped backups, avoiding typical 2-week outage and zero ransom payment.
Community college (2,800 students) blocked 23 Zoom bombing attempts in first semester after platform security hardening, passing OCR FERPA audit with zero findings.
Charter school network (1,200 students, 5 schools) achieved $45K annual savings from Google Workspace migration while implementing MDM and disaster recovery procedures.