Cybersecurity for Schools: The Summer Break Action Plan
The Summer Cybersecurity Challenge
While students and staff look forward to summer vacation, cybercriminals view empty hallways as prime operational time. According to the 2026 Lumu Report on Cybersecurity for Education, schools are now the #1 cybercrime target in the US. The summer break creates a "perfect storm" of skeleton IT crews, reduced network monitoring, and unpatched vulnerabilities. School IT environments are uniquely complex, managing thousands of on-campus student devices alongside on-campus IoT infrastructure (like smartboards and security cameras).
Compounding this challenge, many school tech leads are actually teachers or coaches roped into the role, leaving teams understaffed. Recent high-profile breaches—such as the 2026 Canvas platform shutdown by ShinyHunters—highlight that threat actors actively exploit these exact operational gaps.
Click here to access Lumu's complete Summer Break Action Plan for Schools including tips on:
Pre-Break Priorities: Inventory and Audit
Summer Housekeeping: Securing the Quiet Months
Turning Vulnerability into Advantage