Action1

Two-thirds of school IT leaders worldwide rated their cybersecurity maturity as moderate.

74% of schools lack a dedicated cybersecurity specialist in 2025

89% of schools experienced at least one cyber incident in the past year, primarily phishing, unauthorized access, and malware.

92% of school IT leaders expect AI-powered phishing to be the most dangerous threat in the coming year

Nearly 40% of schools feel underprepared for ransomware in 2025

High confidence in cybersecurity among school IT leaders dropped from 30% in 2024 to 18% in 2025

Half of school IT leaders view ransomware as a serious threat to learning continuity in 2025

Concerns about loss of control (60%) continue to slow AI adoption.

Concerns about AI's accuracy (79%) continue to slow adoption.

70% of sysadmins are actively seeking AI-related training.

Current implementation trends show AI operational use expanding in troubleshooting (41%) and log analysis (35%).

More sensitive functions remain largely untouched by AI implementation, such as SSO/password management (2%) and file management (5%).

20% of AI implementations have caused operational disruptions.

Only 22% of sysadmins say their organizations require AI use. This is up from 18% in 2024.

As AI usage expands, reports of AI falling short include troubleshooting (30%) and log analysis (12%).

45% of sysadmins now know how to use AI. This is up from 34% last year.

Concerns about security risks (78%) continue to slow AI adoption.

The majority (73%) of sysadmins still report no requirement for AI use within their organisations.

Current implementation trends show AI operational use expanding in troubleshooting (41%) and log analysis (35%).

Total number of software vulnerabilities grew by 61% year-over-year (YoY) in 2024.

Linux vulnerabilities soared by 967% in 2024.

macOS vulnerabilities increased by 95% in 2024.

Critical vulnerabilities rose by 37.1% in 2024.

There was a 505% increase in critical flaws in database software.

There was a 213% YoY overall vulnerability growth in database software.

Exploits spiked 657% in browsers.

The number of known exploited vulnerabilities rose by 96% in 2024.

Exploits spiked 433% in Microsoft Office applications. Web browsers and Office applications have emerged as prime targets. Chrome specifically led all products in known attacks.

macOS vulnerabilities increased by 95% in 2024.

There was a 505% increase in critical flaws in database software.

Total number of software vulnerabilities grew by 61% year-over-year (YoY) in 2024.