Stealthbits Helps Educators Thwart Hackers and Reduce Ransomware
Cybersecurity pioneer offers free one-year software subscription to K-12 schools and higher-ed institutions nationwide
HAWTHORNE, N.J., Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stealthbits Technologies, Inc., a cybersecurity software leader that protects sensitive data and credentials from attackers, is giving educators, school administrators and their IT teams much-needed relief from ransomware, which has surged in the age of COVID-19 remote learning. In honor of the extraordinary measures taken by educators and their resource-constrained IT administrators, Stealthbits is offering U.S.-based K-12 school districts as well as public colleges and universities a free one-year subscription to Stealthbits Privileged Activity Manager® (SbPAM) software.
"We want to help educators stay focused on teaching and students on learning without constant worry that personal and critical data could be compromised," said Jim Barkdoll, CEO of Stealthbits. "Many schools lack the resources to combat cyber-criminals, which is why Stealthbits is lending a hand. Our goal is to reduce risk exposure while giving back to our communities during this unprecedented time."
According to the 2020 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, ransomware attacks within the education sector jumped to 80% of reported malware-related incidents, compared to 45% the prior year. An increase in financially motivated incidents appears to drive the growth of ransomware across the education sector. Phishing attacks occurred in 28% of breaches while hacking via stolen credentials took place in 23% of the incidents.
Recent attacks on school districts, along with public college and university networks, have resulted in online learning delays and school IT outages. Additionally, there's been a steady rise in leaks of student records, research, financial data and personally identifiable information. In several highly publicized cases over the past few months, schools and universities have made six-figure payments to recover encrypted and stolen data.
At the National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center (NSPARC), professional and student data scientists, software architects and security experts support Mississippi State University's research, learning and service goals. "It's critical to safeguard sensitive data from increasingly commoditized and automated attack programs," said Craig Shorter, manager of security and compliance for NSPARC. "Many legacy solutions for reducing risk exposure need a lot of care and feeding. SbPAM is easier and faster for my team to set up and attain meaningful information."
About SbPAM
SbPAM is cloud-based software that manages access to privileged accounts using a task-based approach. IT administrators and privileged business users are provided just-in-time, temporary access to the data they need to perform a specific task. Once the task is completed, access is removed, which significantly reduces the "attack surface" hackers exploit to gain unauthorized entry to school networks and systems. SbPAM also reinforces Stealthbits' commitment to simplifying Privileged Access Management (PAM), which traditionally has been complex and costly to use. In contrast, SbPAM can be installed and operational in less than an hour.
More Details on the SbPAM Offer
U.S-based K-12 schools as well as public colleges and universities, including historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), can take advantage of Stealthbits' complimentary one-year SbPAM software subscription until June 30, 2021. In addition to receiving SbPAM free of charge for that period, education customers will gain access to Stealthbits' Learning Management System (LMS), which contains online tutorials, videos and training materials.
After one year, school administrators can renew their subscriptions for an additional year at a nominal fee to offset some support costs in the second year. A maintenance fee of $1,500 will be charged for five or fewer users; administrative teams comprising 20 or fewer users will be charged $2,500. Additional user licenses can be purchased for $250 per user.
While the value of this solution depends on the size of the school, the market value realized starts at $10,000 and extends to several hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Giving back to our local communities has always been part of our company's DNA," said Steve Cochran, founder and chairman of Stealthbits. "We are proud to do our part in supporting teachers and students by making it easier to remove security risks that threaten to disrupt essential learning environments."
For more information and to activate the free one-year software subscription, visit: https://stealthbits.com/privacy-for-education/.
About Stealthbits Technologies
Stealthbits Technologies, Inc. is a customer-driven cybersecurity software company focused on protecting an organization's sensitive data and the credentials attackers use to steal that data. By removing inappropriate data access, enforcing security policy, and detecting advanced threats, we reduce security risk, fulfill compliance requirements, and decrease operational expense. For more information, visit https://www.stealthbits.com.
For more information, contact
Sue Hetzel
HetzelMeade Communications on behalf of Stealthbits
[email protected]
760.473.4729
SOURCE Stealthbits Technologies, Inc.
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