Cisco Duo Secures Education Institutions Against Rising Ransomware Attacks

Securing identities for education institutions is a daunting task, especially when dealing with large and constantly changing user populations. According to Cisco Duo, ransomware attacks targeting education have risen by 23% year over year in 2025. To combat this challenge, security teams at universities and schools rely on identity and access management (IAM) solutions that can scale to protect thousands of identities.

Cisco Duo's IAM solution helps learning institutions protect sensitive personal information while providing a fast and flexible user experience. The company has helped numerous education institutions implement its solution, including the University of Toronto, which saw account compromise drop to nearly zero after rolling out Duo across over 124,000 users.

One of the key features of Cisco Duo's IAM solution is its ability to streamline the identity account management lifecycle, making it easier for students and staff to self-enroll in multi-factor authentication (MFA) from any location. The company also provides complete visibility and granular control over user access, reducing the risks associated with phased rollouts and centralized management of campus- or city-wide deployments.