In recent years, we have seen the rapid growth of esports (electronic sports), or competitive video gaming, with the global esports market already surpassing $1 billion and, according to a recent report from Stratview Research, expected to reach over $9 billion in 2028. Therefore, it should be no surprise that this trend has caught the interest of educational institutions, especially considering over 60% of esports fans are within the age range of the average secondary and post-secondary student, between 13 and 26 years old.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has seen increased malicious activity with ransomware attacks against K 12 educational institutions. Malicious cyber actors target school computer systems, slowing access, and rendering the systems inaccessible to essential functions, including remote learning. In some instances, ransomware actors stole and threatened to leak confidential student data unless institutions paid a ransom.

Ransomware attacks on US government organizations cost $18.9bn in 2020.

This three-part blog series will explore threat-based methodology and how it benefits every company with a network. The series leverages the analysis presented by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Program Management Office (PMO) in conjunction with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).