Cybersecurity for Education Institutions

62 %

of institutions store sensitive data in SaaS apps

41 %

experienced data exposure from misconfigurations

USD 3.76M average cost for a K‑12 district to recover from ransomware

Tight budgets and legacy systems make schools prime targets. Mature controls keep classes running and reputations intact.

TRUST

Educational Institutions Count on Trust

It takes just one overlooked control to destory years of hardwork. Are you sure every policy, patch, and person is ready when it counts?

Top Risks for Education & Research Institutions

Stay ahead of ransomware, phishing, and IP theft with education‑ready defenses.

Top Risks	Pain Points	Solutions
Ransomware and Data Extortion	Class cancellations, transcript loss, public data leaks.	Immutable backups, 24 × 7 MDR, recovery playbooks.
Phishing and Credential Theft	Stolen student or faculty accounts enable network takeover.	Phishing simulation, MFA rollout, real‑time mail analytics.
Business Email Compromise and Financial‑Aid Fraud	Diverted tuition or grant funds.	Email hardening, payment‑workflow validation, user training.
Vendor and Ed‑Tech Breaches	Third‑party platforms leak millions of records.	Third‑party risk monitoring, contract security reviews, access audits.
Research IP Theft by Nation‑State Actors	Stolen patents and grant data.	Network segmentation, data‑loss prevention, red‑team testing of research labs. Talk to an Expert

H.T. Gordon

Chief Executive Officer
Parsysco

Working With Forgepath

Forgepath separates themselves from the rest as they’re a true security partner.
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H.T. Gordon
Chief Executive Officer
Parsysco

Forgepath separates themselves from the rest as they’re a true security partner to Parsysco. They took the time to understand our requirements and how things were working with our previous provider. We were impressed by how quickly they formulated a new strategy and approach. They helped us identify our challenges and consistently brought forward solutions that were in Parsysco’s best interest.

Most vendors only care about selling something, Forgepath took the personal relationship and partnership approach that we value greatly.

Jeromy Labit

Director, Cloud Systems & Security
ZERO

Working With Forgepath

Forgepath delivered outstanding service on our network and app security tests.
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Jeromy Labit
Director, Cloud Systems & Security
ZERO

Forgepath delivered outstanding service on both our network penetration test and application security assessment.

When a critical customer need arose, they quickly adjusted their schedule to meet our urgent timeline without compromising quality. Their technical expertise, clear guidance, and hands-on remediation support helped us meet our EOY goals efficiently.

We were especially impressed by their flexibility, responsiveness, and professionalism throughout the process.

Cyrus Kapadia

Chief Technology & Innovation Officer
YHB | CPAs & Consultants

Working With Forgepath

Forgepath has become a trusted security partner for YHB.
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Cyrus Kapadia
Chief Technology & Innovation Officer
YHB | CPAs & Consultants

Forgepath has become a trusted security partner for YHB. Beyond helping us comply with FTC Safeguards requirements, they provide the governance, oversight, and guidance we rely on to protect our firm and our clients’ data. Their team understands how a CPA firm operates and has helped us build a security program that’s both practical and sustainable.

Find the Right Security Operation Bundle for Your Education Institution

Transfer cyber risk with our best-in-class security operation bundles purpose-build for educators.

View Security Bundles

Bundle Features	Protect	Defend	Fortify
Institutional Security Readiness	Baseline assessment of security posture for protecting student records, research data, and institutional systems, with a written remediation roadmap. i	Ongoing oversight of core controls, access governance, and documentation supporting regulatory and grant requirements. i	Targeted validation of controls through technical checks, documentation review, and leadership-ready risk reporting. i
Compliance Management as a Service	Creation of foundational governance including security policies, incident response standards, and data-handling expectations. i	Operation of a living compliance program including risk register management, control tracking, and quarterly security reporting. i	Multi-framework coordination for regulatory, grant, and partner security expectations with audit-prep documentation support. i
Security Awareness Training + Phish Testing	Annual training for faculty, staff, and administrators on phishing, ransomware, and credential theft. i	Role-based training and recurring phishing simulations tailored to academic and research environments. i	Advanced social-engineering scenarios reflecting threats to student services, research teams, and finance offices. i
Incident Response Readiness	Development of an incident response plan aligned to institutional governance, communications, and legal obligations. i	Tabletop exercises involving IT, compliance, research leadership, and executive stakeholders. i	Incident readiness validation including coordination with forensics, legal counsel, and crisis communications. i
Vulnerability Management		Routine vulnerability scanning with prioritized remediation guidance across campus systems, cloud platforms, and research infrastructure. i	Advanced vulnerability analysis with verified exploitable results focused on high-impact exposure paths. i
Third-Party Risk Management		Vendor risk assessments for learning platforms, research tools, cloud services, and managed providers. i	Ongoing third-party monitoring and contract-level security guidance for high-risk vendors. i
Identity & Access Review		Review of authentication practices, access controls, and privileged account exposure across academic and administrative systems. i	Advanced access governance including reduction of excessive permissions and shared account risk. i
AI Governance & Security	Inventory of AI and automation use cases with baseline risk screening and creation of AI usage and governance policies. i	Advanced AI security review covering data exposure, misuse scenarios, and vendor risk. i	Ongoing AI risk oversight including policy enforcement, vendor governance, and monitoring of sensitive data flows. i
Penetration Testing			Annual network and application penetration testing focused on institutional systems and research platforms. i
Digital Forensics & Incident Response Retainer			Priority access to forensic and incident response support when security events occur. i
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery			Review of recovery plans to ensure continuity of academic operations after cyber incidents. i

SCORE

Security, Compliance, Operations, Risk Evaluation

Built on expert interviews and continuous industry research, SCORE quickly identifies security gaps and resilience issues—delivering a graded report to guide smarter cybersecurity decisions.