Ransomware incidents targeting K–12 districts and higher‑education institutions reached 251 in 2025, with U.S. entities accounting for the majority of attacks and roughly 3.89 million records breached, according to a Comparitech analysis. Major higher‑education victims included the University of Phoenix, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania. Security firms traced multiple incidents to exploitation of third‑party platform vulnerabilities—most notably Cl0p’s abuse of Oracle E‑Business Suite flaws—that allowed attackers to extract large troves of payroll, student and alumni data. Institutions reported stolen personally identifiable information and financial records, triggering FERPA, state breach notification and insurance claims. Campus CIOs and general counsels face pressure to invest in patch management, third‑party risk audits and data‑segmentation strategies as insurers tighten coverage and regulators examine whether institutions met reasonable cybersecurity standards.