Education Sector Hit Hard: 650,000 Emails Exposed in Recent Cyberattacks

Summer is coming to an end, and schools are starting to gear up for the new year, but one troubling trend is emerging. Educational institutions across the United States are becoming easy prey for cybercriminals. Several recent data breaches exposed the email addresses of thousands of students, teachers, and staff.

More than 650,000 records from several educational institutions were hacked in the last 60 days. This trend suggests an increase in targeted cyberattacks as schools get ready for the new 2024 academic year.

On June 13, 2024, a significant breach occurred involving the data of 46,169 university students in the United States. This sensitive information was shared on a cybercrime forum, putting these students at risk. The breach included personal details such as names, email addresses, and other identifiers, leaving students vulnerable to identity theft and other forms of cyber exploitation.

On the same day, another breach was posted, this time affecting elementary school teachers in the United States. Data from Agile CRM, a customer relationship management platform, was leaked, including 576,735 records related to teachers' personal information.

While the attacker initially shared 1,000 rows for free, they also offered an additional 500,000 rows for sale. This breach compromised not only the teachers' email addresses but also their professional credentials—making them targets for phishing schemes designed to harvest even more sensitive information.

Just a month later, Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) in New Jersey became the victim of a significant cyberattack. In this incident, 27,000 records were posted online, including personal and contact details of students and staff.

With email addresses and other contact information exposed, RCBC students and faculty are now at increased risk of being targeted by phishing attacks designed to extract more information or compromise their online accounts.

The most alarming breach occurred on July 19, 2024 when a cybercriminal gained access to a major IT system associated with an educational institution that generates $200 million in revenue. The attacker managed to obtain two CSV files containing employee emails and messages—along with the ability to send official emails, extract data, and reveal the institution’s database type.

Additionally, the breach impacted 25,000 connected computers, further expanding the potential damage. This incident is particularly concerning because it not only compromised personal data but also granted the attacker significant control over the institution’s communications and data systems.

Adding up the numbers demonstrates the staggering scale of these breaches. More than 650,000 records have been compromised across multiple educational institutions, with email addresses being the common targets in all breaches. The sensitivity of the data involved—from student records to employee communications—suggests that the main threat here is an explosion of phishing attacks.

For example, a student whose email was exposed in the June 13 university breach may get an apparent email from their school's IT department claiming their account has been compromised, which includes a link to a fake login page to "reset" their password. If they enter their credentials, the attacker can access their real account and possibly steal their identity or gain unauthorized access to other personal or financial information.

Similarly, a breach of the IT system of a major educational institution on July 19 is alarming. With official emails in hand, attackers could mount a phishing campaign that looks legitimate to employees and cause widespread credential theft.

A new wave of cyberattacks against the education sector shows that no institution is immune to such threats—and they are likely only going to increase as students and teachers return to campus.

Detecting and blocking sophisticated threats requires AI solutions that analyze communication patterns in real time, spot anomalies, and adapt to new tactics. With an AI-native email security platform like Abnormal Security, you can proactively deter phishing before it reaches your inboxes.

Ready to see how Abnormal can prepare your institution for what lies ahead? Request a demo today to see how we’re protecting humans with AI.