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On-Premise Protection is the Best First Step Against DDoS and Cyberattacks for Academic Institutions

Due to the complexity of DDoS attacks, Educational Institutions need to understand the risk reduction that on-premise edge protection can provide to their on line learning applications and services.

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As academic institutions end their calendar years and reflect on DDoS attacks that caused disruptions in on line learning and resource availability throughout the year, they are beginning to understand the need to attain an appreciation of the real risk of DDoS attacks and the growing threat landscape. In fact, during the second half of 2023, the increased threat surface due to online education at all levels triggered a massive shift in internet usage. The result was that cybercriminals launched over 75 thousand DDoS attacks aimed at crippling the targets that online applications and services rely on.

This activity was not only seen at colleges and universities but also at the high school and middle school level. As the education sector relies more heavily on online learning, attackers naturally follow and it looks like the trend will continue. Thus far according to the NETSCOUT® Cyber Threat Horizon, in the first quarter of 2024 there have been over 89 thousand DDoS attacks targeting educational institutions globally.

A majority of these recorded attacks are targeting the online learning delivery applications and services which are becoming the backbone of many academic institutions.