"Hacks are on the rise across all industries, but the public sector’s weak protections make it an increasingly attractive target for cybercriminals. Cybercrime has left schools, hospitals and utilities from Baltimore to Los Angeles struggling to pay ransom, restore services and boost security. Finances have suffered, threatening credit ratings.
The number of K-12 public schools suffering ransomware attacks almost doubled between 2021 and 2022 to almost 2,000 a year, according to a report by Emsisoft, a cybersecurity company. The growing use of technology in education, which was accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as healthcare’s reliance on IT infrastructure, has made schools and hospitals particularly vulnerable, according to analysts.
“This year alone, we’ve seen a lot more of these attacks compared to prior years, and it’s a concern that has come up in almost every discussion that we have with issuers,” said Li Yang, lead analyst at S&P Global Ratings.
Cyberattacks on the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school system, caused problems including the release of confidential student data. Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said officials convened a task force of cybersecurity experts to begin modernizing the district’s technology. This year the school district sold hundred of millions of dollars of debt and plans to use $72 million to secure its technology infrastructure, according to a spokesperson." End quote.
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