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Data Security for Education

Protect Student Data & Ensure FERPA Compliance

Educational institutions are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals due to valuable student data, research IP, and vulnerable IT infrastructure. TRIAS DLP protects K-12 schools, universities, community colleges, and EdTech companies—ensuring FERPA compliance, preventing ransomware attacks averaging $3.2M in recovery costs, and safeguarding student privacy rights while supporting the academic mission.

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$3.2M

Avg Ransomware Recovery Cost

K-12 school districts

89%

FERPA Violation Prevention

First year deployment

$500M

Research IP Protected

Average research university

100%

Federal Funding Maintained

Zero FERPA violations

Protected Educational Data

Sensitive information in academic environments

Student Education Records (FERPA)

Transcripts, grades, attendance records, disciplinary records, test scores, IEP/504 plans, counseling notes, financial aid applications, enrollment information, class schedules.

Risk: FERPA violations $10K-$50K per incident, lawsuit liability, loss of federal funding, student privacy harm, identity theft.

Student Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

Names, addresses, Social Security numbers, student ID numbers, dates of birth, biometric data, email addresses, phone numbers, parent information.

Risk: Identity theft, student safety risks, stalking/harassment, financial fraud, credit damage for minors.

Health & Medical Records

Student health records, immunization records, medication information, nurse visit logs, mental health counseling, special education evaluations, COVID-19 health screening.

Risk: FERPA + HIPAA violations, discrimination, student safety, medical privacy breach, insurance fraud.

Research Data & Intellectual Property

Faculty research data, grant proposals, clinical trial data, patents pending, proprietary research methods, laboratory notebooks, unpublished findings.

Risk: IP theft worth millions, competitive disadvantage, grant funding loss, research integrity violations, publication scooping.

Financial Aid & Payment Information

FAFSA data, financial aid awards, student loan information, scholarship records, payment card data, bank account information, parent financial data.

Risk: PCI-DSS violations, financial fraud, loan fraud, scholarship scams, parent identity theft, credit damage.

Alumni & Donor Information

Alumni contact information, donation history, wealth indicators, employment information, event participation, giving capacity assessments, estate planning information.

Risk: Donor privacy violations, fundraising damage, alumni trust loss, competitive intelligence for other institutions.

Education Sector Threats

Attack vectors targeting schools and universities

Ransomware Attacks on School Districts

K-12 schools targeted by ransomware gangs. Student information systems, grade databases, payroll systems encrypted. Schools closed for weeks. Average ransom demand: $1.2M. Recovery costs: $3.2M.

Real Example: School district ransomware attack encrypted student records for 40,000 students. Schools closed 2 weeks. Cancelled SAT testing. Lost $15M in recovery costs, temporary systems, credit monitoring.

TRIAS Prevention: Prevent ransomware from accessing student databases. Block unauthorized encryption. Detect lateral movement. Isolate backup systems from production networks.

Insider Theft of Student Records

School employees access student records for identity theft, selling to fraud rings, stalking. Teachers, counselors, registrars with authorized access abuse privileges.

Real Example: School secretary accessed 30,000 student records over 3 years. Sold SSNs, birth dates to identity theft ring. Students' credit destroyed. $8M in damages, lawsuits.

TRIAS Prevention: Monitor SIS access patterns. Alert on mass record downloads. Detect after-hours access. Require justification for bulk exports. Track employee resignation activities.

Phishing Targeting Students & Faculty

Phishing emails impersonate university IT, financial aid, registrar offices. Students click malicious links, provide credentials. Attackers access email, student portals, financial aid systems.

Real Example: Phishing campaign targeted 50,000 students with fake financial aid emails. 2,000 clicked. Attackers accessed email accounts, filed fraudulent tax returns, stole refunds. $4.5M fraud.

TRIAS Prevention: Prevent credential harvesting. Monitor for unusual login patterns. Detect credential stuffing attacks. Alert on financial aid data access from compromised accounts.

Research Data Theft

Foreign governments, competitors target university research. PhD students, visiting scholars recruited to steal IP. Millions in research investment lost. Grant funding jeopardized.

Real Example: Chemistry professor stole $1B in trade secrets for Chinese university. Downloaded research data to laptop, USB drives. Arrested at airport. University lost NIH funding, partnerships.

TRIAS Prevention: Monitor research data access by international students, visiting scholars. Detect bulk downloads of research files. Alert on encryption tool usage. Track departing researcher activities.

Third-Party EdTech Breaches

Learning management systems (Canvas, Blackboard), student information systems, EdTech apps breached. Millions of student records exposed. Schools liable under FERPA.

Real Example: EdTech company breach exposed 10M student records from 500 school districts. Student names, SSNs, grades, disciplinary records. Districts face FERPA investigations, lawsuits.

TRIAS Prevention: Monitor vendor access to student data. Encrypt data before sending to third parties. Require data processing agreements. Audit vendor security controls.

Student Privacy Violations (Unauthorized Disclosure)

Faculty, staff accidentally or intentionally disclose student grades, disciplinary records, health information without proper authorization. Email to wrong recipient, public posting.

Real Example: Professor emailed entire class grades including SSNs to all students instead of individually. 200 students received classmates' private data. FERPA violation, lawsuits, professor termination.

TRIAS Prevention: Prevent emailing student data without encryption. Block posting grades with identifiers publicly. Alert on bulk student data in email. Detect unauthorized external sharing.

Education Use Cases

Real-world implementations in education

Use Case 1

Large University: Protect Student Information System

Challenge

45,000 students, 10,000 faculty/staff with SIS access. Student records contain SSNs, grades, financial aid, disciplinary history. FERPA requires strict access controls. Insider threat risk.

TRIAS Solution

Monitor all SIS access. Detect anomalous patterns: mass downloads, off-hours access, accessing unrelated student records. Alert registrar on suspicious activity. Require approval for bulk exports.

Controls Deployed

SIS audit logging, user behavior analytics, bulk download prevention, after-hours alerts, employee monitoring, role-based access enforcement.

Result: Detected registrar employee downloading 5,000 student records to USB. Prevented identity theft ring. Passed DOE FERPA audit with zero findings.

Use Case 2

K-12 School District: Prevent Ransomware

Challenge

50 schools, 25,000 students. Limited IT budget, vulnerable infrastructure. Recent ransomware attacks on neighboring districts. Cannot afford downtime during school year.

TRIAS Solution

Deploy endpoint protection on all teacher/admin computers. Monitor student database access. Block unauthorized encryption attempts. Isolate backup systems from network.

Controls Deployed

Ransomware detection, database protection, backup isolation, USB blocking, email attachment scanning, lateral movement detection.

Result: Blocked ransomware infection before encryption. Detected malicious email attachment. Quarantined infected computer. Zero downtime, $3.2M recovery costs avoided.

Use Case 3

Research University: Protect Intellectual Property

Challenge

$800M annual research funding. Medical school, engineering labs, AI research. Foreign governments target IP. Visiting scholars, international students with lab access.

TRIAS Solution

Classify research data (public, internal, restricted, export-controlled). Monitor downloads by international researchers. Detect unusual file access patterns. Alert on encryption tool usage.

Controls Deployed

Data classification, researcher monitoring, export control compliance, USB blocking, cloud upload restrictions, departure-triggered alerts.

Result: Caught visiting scholar downloading $500M cancer research data. Prevented IP theft. Protected NIH grant funding. Maintained international research collaborations.

Use Case 4

Community College: FERPA Compliance

Challenge

15,000 students, multiple campuses. Faculty frequently violate FERPA: emailing grades with SSNs, posting grades publicly. DOE compliance review pending.

TRIAS Solution

Scan all outbound emails for student data. Block emails containing SSNs + grades. Prevent posting student records to public websites. Auto-encrypt student data in email.

Controls Deployed

Email DLP, SSN detection, grade disclosure prevention, public posting blocks, automatic encryption, faculty training triggers.

Result: Prevented 450+ FERPA violations in first semester. Blocked professor from emailing grades to entire class. Passed DOE compliance review.

Use Case 5

EdTech Company: Secure Student Data Platform

Challenge

Learning platform used by 5,000 schools, 10M students. Store grades, attendance, assessments. FERPA compliance required. One breach affects all customers.

TRIAS Solution

Encrypt all student data at rest and in transit. Monitor employee access to customer databases. Prevent unauthorized downloads. Automated FERPA compliance reporting.

Controls Deployed

Database encryption, access controls, employee monitoring, data classification, breach detection, compliance dashboards.

Result: Zero student data breaches in 5 years. SOC 2 Type II certified. All 5,000 school customers maintain FERPA compliance.

Use Case 6

Private School: Protect Donor Information

Challenge

Elite private school, high-net-worth families. Alumni database contains wealth indicators, donation history, estate plans. Competitive intelligence target.

TRIAS Solution

Restrict access to advancement database. Monitor development office activities. Prevent exporting donor lists. Detect unusual queries for wealthy alumni.

Controls Deployed

Database access controls, development office monitoring, export restrictions, wealth indicator protection, competitive intelligence prevention.

Result: Caught advancement officer selling donor list to competing school. Protected $500M fundraising campaign. Maintained donor trust.

Education Compliance Requirements

Regulatory standards for educational institutions

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

Protect student education records privacy

Written consent for disclosure, access controls, amendment rights, annual notification, directory information policies, recordkeeping.

Penalties: Loss of federal funding (all Title IV funds), $10K-$50K fines per incident, lawsuits, reputational damage.

COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act)

Protect online privacy of children under 13

Parental consent for data collection, limited data collection, secure deletion, privacy policies, data security safeguards.

Penalties: FTC fines up to $43,280 per violation, class action lawsuits, service shutdown orders.

SOPIPA (Student Online Personal Information Protection Act)

California law protecting K-12 student online data

Prohibit selling student data, targeted advertising restrictions, data security requirements, deletion upon request.

Penalties: California AG enforcement, injunctions, civil penalties, contract termination.

PPRA (Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment)

Protect student privacy in surveys, analysis

Parental opt-out rights, consent for sensitive surveys, protection of student information in research.

Penalties: Loss of federal funding, DOE enforcement actions, parent complaints.

State Student Data Privacy Laws

Varying requirements across 50 states

Data inventory, vendor agreements, breach notification, data minimization, deletion policies, transparency.

Penalties: State AG enforcement, fines varying by state, contract cancellations, legislative hearings.

PCI-DSS (for tuition payments)

Protect student payment card information

Encryption, network segmentation, access controls, vulnerability management, incident response.

Penalties: $5K-$100K monthly fines, increased transaction fees, loss of payment processing.

TRIAS Education Architecture

Deployment for academic environments

Student Information System Protection

Protect Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Google Classroom. Monitor faculty access to student submissions, grades. Prevent unauthorized data exports.

Learning Management System Security

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Research Data Protection

Secure research databases, lab servers, grant data. Monitor researcher file access. Detect export-controlled data movements.

Campus Network Monitoring

Network DLP for campus Wi-Fi, residence halls, computer labs. Detect student data in network traffic. Block unauthorized transfers.

Faculty/Staff Endpoint Protection

Agents on teacher laptops, administrator workstations, registrar computers. Monitor email, USB, screen captures, clipboard.

Cloud EdTech Integration

API integration with Google Workspace for Education, Microsoft 365 Education. Monitor cloud file sharing, collaboration tools.

Protect Student Data & Academic Research

Ensure FERPA compliance and prevent costly education data breaches

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