"Ransomware, Data Breach Insurance Costing Florida School Districts Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars"
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found the loss of learning following a cyberattack at K-12 schools ranged from three days to three weeks, recovery time could take anywhere from two to nine months, and districts’ losses have ranged from $50,000 to $1 million. Florida Schools districts are paying a lot of money to protect themselves with cyber insurance. A Florida Auditor General survey of 38 school districts found that 22 districts bought cyber insurance this school year at an average cost of $47,284. Twelve districts bought ransomware insurance this school year at an average cost of $17,751, and one reported paying $637,000. Matt Aubin, a cyber intelligence specialist at Southern Recon Agency, stated that the money going towards cyber insurance is a significant allocation of budgets that are not going to students. The researcher argued that since insurance protects the school district’s finances, not the students’ and employees’ personal info, districts’ best bet is to try to prevent the attacks from happening in the first place. That way, the school can invest the money they are paying for cyber insurance into providing better education to students instead. A U.S. Government Accountability Office analysis of a Comparitech study found more than two million students have been affected by K-12 school ransomware attacks since 2018.