Cybersecurity firms report a sharp rise in ransomware and targeted cyberattacks against education institutions in 2025, with education organizations facing an average 41% year‑over‑year increase in weekly attacks. Attackers are shifting tactics toward data exfiltration, multi‑vector intrusions, and ransom demands that threaten research datasets, student records and financial systems. Higher‑education IT leaders warn that legacy infrastructure, decentralized endpoints and the sector’s open collaboration culture make universities attractive targets. Security vendors and campus CISOs urge multi‑layer defenses, incident response drills, and investments in backup and recovery to protect accreditation, research continuity and student privacy.