Cyber security startups boosting education’s defenses

Cyber security is increasingly becoming a priority for education agencies and policymakers. Cyber security startups could be the answer to all their problems.

As schools utilize edtech services and tech, the risk of cyberattacks has also grown. Studies show ransomware attacks against education increased from 6% in 2019 to 15% in 2020, whereas healthcare increased from 21% to 23% during the same period.

It comes as no surprise that Education is consecutively the most affected industry by number of reported enterprise malware encounters, with over 7M reported in the last 30 days. In the startup world, Edtech startups such as Chegg and Illuminate Education are facing scrutiny over recent cyberattacks.

There are a growing number of cyber security startups helping schools and corporates increase their cybersecurity awareness. A few examples cyber security usage for education per age group:

• K-12: Securly is a web-filtering platform for school computers to help students and children to navigate to surf the web safely and securely.
• Corporates: Immersive Labs helps organizations assess, build, and prove their cyber workforce resilience by providing simulations and hands-on cybersecurity labs
• Lifelong and consumer learning: Hack the Box is a cybersecurity training platform for individuals, businesses and universities helping to upskill talent in cybersecurity.

We’ve mapped 60+ cyber security edtech startups. Together, these startups have raised over $465M in 2022 so far, up from $98M in 2021. The largest rounds this year have been: Mosyle (device management), ThriveDX (reskilling), and SoSafe (cyber security awareness platform).

💡 Recommended reading: UK Cyber Security Ecosystem in 2022

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