Defending Our Schools: The State of Cybersecurity in K-12

K-12 leaders tasked with preparing students for the future workforce are doing so amid ever-increasing cyber threats. The dynamic landscape of in-person, virtual and hybrid schooling has made schools vulnerable targets for cyber threat actors (CTAs). While many K-12 organizations struggle to obtain resources to strengthen cybersecurity, those that employ security best practices consistently report higher levels of cyber maturity.

Over the past 20 years, the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) has been committed to its mission of fostering collaboration and information sharing across 16,000 U.S. State, Local, Tribal and Territorial (SLTT) government entities, with K-12 organizations representing the largest and fastest-growing segment. In pursuit of its mission, the Center for Internet Security, Inc. (CIS) and MS-ISAC collected data for the 2022–2023 school year through the Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR) and other first-hand sources, presenting findings in the CIS MS-ISAC Cybersecurity Assessment.