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For those that are heading back into the school education system, student, teacher, or administrative professional, this blog is just for you!
In the summertime, business general activity is low, however cybercriminals utilize this time to calculate an abundance of phishing scams to isolate, rush, and cause anxiety within the victim. Once fall hits, these tactics are no different, just using another mask to hide their cyber threats in plain sight.
Malicious Spikes in Unusual Activity Detected
Have you thought about the frequency of receiving phishing, smishing, spoofing scam attempts spiking inconsistently throughout the year? You are not the only one that has noticed this behavioral pattern when scams find their way into your inbox.
Did you know from "January to July 2025, organizations in the education sector endured an average of 4,356 weekly attacks, marking a 41% YOY increase?” Or that countries across the world that “Attacks have struck uniformly across all regions, but Asia-Pacific organizations faced the heaviest onslaught, with 7,869 average weekly attacks per organization. North America saw the steepest spike, rising 67 percent YoY, while Europe and Africa recorded increases of 48 percent and 56 percent respectively. At the country level, Italy led with 8,593 attacks per organization, followed by Hong Kong at 5,399, Portugal at 5,488, and the United States at 2,912.”
With the common denominator surrounding a transition from summer to fall actives (such as back to school), attackers are utilizing the seasonal spike for significant impact while going unnoticed in the noise. July alone when it came to the education system noticed 18,000 new domains with the intent of maliciously mimicking academic institutions. Not all were detected, discovering that only 1 in every 57 were flagged as malicious or suspicious.
Domains Included:
-Impersonated pages
-Mimicking Microsoft Login pages
-PDF Forms disguised as University communications
-Phishing emails sending SVG letters with the intent to spread malware, corrupt devices to steal personal information
For many heading back to school no matter the semester, grade, administrative practice, this is a reminder to provide yourself a checklist and ensuring within that checklist is a couple minutes of your day to learn about cybersecurity awareness to prevent any unnecessary stress at the beginning of the academic year.
Source: https://cybersecuritynews.com/cyber-attacks-targeting-education-sector-surges/
Outside School Hours: Job Scam Postings
Depending on your academic journey, there are also beginning expectations to balance work and life. For some depending on their situation, they can interpret it as picking up a job to pay bills and or beginning understandings of financial responsibility.
However, the usual job market is challenging, especially with some months slower than others. Scammers utilize job postings to prey on those trying to find work they enjoy. A lot of this focus is on how scammers utilize SEO to attract job seekers.
Buzz-phrases to Take A Second Glance
-Job posting aimed at beginner-intermediate level, aiming for post-graduation or part-time work depending on context
-Familiarity with company listed, do links provided work?
-Job with potentially basic task listings, but a higher than usual wage or salary listing
-Job name, title, location of business, links working, a google search to see if this posting can be located across other websites or if the company has their own page with listing.
-Job offer letters or phone call interviews for jobs you never applied for.
Scammers utilize the starting age ranges of those looking and seeking work in a tough job market. What makes this unsettling is the calculated social engineering surrounding these job postings and simple worded job offers can trick younger folks that may not think twice of such a scenario.
Recommendations for Schools; K-12 Or University
It’s important to ensure all are educated on the recent attempts for scammers to trick, steal and exploit your financial information in a high-tension geopolitical environment. Especially in school environments where excessive amounts of personal and financial data are kept on students, faculty and surrounding districts.
Security Measures To Put In Place:
-Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across multiple devices
-Address known vulnerabilities for awareness, monitoring, and improvement for evolving attacks
-Place strong monitoring systems for any unusual activity detected within its networks
-Have an incent scenario discussed in case of an emergency
-Have strong cybersecurity program in place (Ekaru has a great one for you and your team!)
If you believe you or someone else you may know has been affected by a cybersecurity incident within the education system of employment, report immediately as providers will be able to help work with you the sooner detected, the better.
AI Introduction to Classrooms
Whether you’re administrative, student or teacher, you must have the essentials to succeed. The use of AI is now starting to integrate into our school systems, understandably causing some privacy concerns for majority, and some curiosity about how it can utilize student’s learning environment (when monitored correctly).
Some teachers are opening about the use of AI within their classrooms for the 2025-2026 year. In recent time, OpenAI has introduced a ‘study mode’ for ChatGBT to create a learning platform for students. AI when used properly, can provide positive benefits like easier access to information and creating personalized structures for individual students workflows or collaboration with others.
Of course, there are also concerns with individuals and parents about the concerns of cheating, mental health or the underutilization of critical thinking skills for problem solving.
Some teachers admit they have noticed using AI has had positive impact on keeping kids engaged within the classroom. Some have used AI to provide a daily class outline that is intuitive to follow, and options such as talk-to-text/text-to-speech tools to help those with impairments. Example, for those who experience dyslexia.
AI is still evolving, the best usage for within schools is to provide tools that promote social learning, that provides problem solving and fulfilling social interactions with others to prevent disconnection with others in a growing tech world. Collaboration skills that kids can utilize within the school or own communities.
While AI can be helpful for people with different needs, it’s important to recognize that you should not become dependent, but use as a supporting tool that you still must always double check for accuracy.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/26/tech/openai-classroom-software-students
Ekaru Providing Tools for Success
Our Ekaru team can play a critical role in helping your business, education systems, and individuals strengthen their cybersecurity practices and hygiene for high success. Especially during high-risk periods like back-to-school season, it’s important to ensure the right training, tools and expertise needed to detect and prevent threats before they cause harm to you and your community.
In educational environments, we can help:
-Safeguard student data
-Password management using Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) + tips for stronger passwords
-Ensure compliance and privacy standards are in place
-Providing proactive monitoring and incident response.
-Ensure cybersecurity training for all
Whether you're a school administrator, small business owner, or concerned parent, our team is equipped to tailor cybersecurity solutions that fit your specific needs.
Interested in how we can help increase your security for business or education spaces? Reach out today for the first step toward safer, smarter digital environments. Call 978-62-4200 or email us at info@ekaru.com.