Why Education Environments Are Vulnerable

Educational institutions store large volumes of sensitive student data—birthdates, Social Security numbers, academic records, and health details. Cyber attackers increasingly target schools due to limited budgets and legacy IT systems.

Top Risks in K–12 and Higher Education IT

• Misconfigured Cloud Storage: Open blob containers, unsecured databases, or public file links

• Lack of Data Classification: No visibility into where student PII and FERPA-covered data resides

• Insider Threats: Faculty or staff accidentally oversharing files or emails

• Manual Audits: Relying on spreadsheets or human review to detect sensitive data exposure

SecureStack™: End-to-End Cloud Security for Education

Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Automates continuous assessment of your cloud infrastructure. Use its Secure Score to quickly identify whether any virtual machines, storage accounts, or databases are vulnerable to exposure.

Microsoft Sentinel
Enables detection of unusual login patterns from students, staff, or third parties. Sentinel helps your team build rules to alert when sensitive data is accessed outside of school hours or geographic norms.

Microsoft Purview
Detects and labels sensitive student data automatically. Define classification policies for academic records, health documents, and PII. Easily generate FERPA compliance reports.

Copilot in Azure
Ask: “Have any student records been shared externally?” or “Which files contain Social Security numbers?” Copilot responds in plain English and provides action recommendations.

Data Protection Checklist for Education IT Teams

1. Enable Defender for Cloud to monitor misconfigurations in real time

2. Create Sentinel rules for suspicious student or faculty activity

3. Label all student PII using Microsoft Purview’s auto-classification

4. Run a Copilot query weekly to audit sensitive file access

5. Schedule quarterly FERPA audit reviews

Conclusion
Student data deserves enterprise-grade protection. With SecureStack™, your education IT team can use Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Purview, and Copilot in Azure to identify, classify, monitor, and secure student information—all without increasing complexity. Focus on delivering safe learning environments while the platform handles the risk.