10/31/2025

How AI Phishing Is Putting School Districts at Risk

Hackernoon

AI is super-charging social engineering, and K-12 is still a precious target. With an average of 2,739 edtech tools per district, staff and students rely heavily on laptops and classroom tech that must be protected from the latest threats. Today, these include anything from convincing “superintendent” emails to deepfake voice notes and student-account takeovers.

PromptLock is one example of a new kind of computer virus that uses generative tools to help write its own harmful code every time it runs. That means it can change slightly each time, making it harder for security systems to catch.

Once it’s on a computer, the malware looks through the files. It can then steal them and lock them up so schools can’t open them.

As ransomware becomes more sophisticated, attacks could target not just large schools but also individual students and staff members, leaving them open to higher risks of data theft, financial loss, and service disruptions. Schools must know where their blind spots are and how to protect themselves against these types of cyber attacks.