Education sector faces record cyberattacks as school year begins

Check Point Research has found that education remains the world’s most attacked sector, with organisations facing an average of 4,696 weekly cyberattacks between January and July 2026, an 8% increase year-over-year and more than double the global cross-industry average. In July alone, attacks rose to 4,848 per organisation, up 14% year-over-year.

Threat actors are exploiting the back-to-school period with phishing campaigns targeting students and educators. Researchers identified 18,954 new education-themed domains in July, with one in 226 flagged as malicious, up from one in 305 in June. Examples include fake student discount offers and malicious PDFs impersonating schools to steal credentials.