DNSFilter Data Reveals Pervasive Back-to-School Scams
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Protective DNS firm uncovers spikes in malicious traffic leading up to the start of every school year
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Malicious actors are making the most of the new school year with scams aimed at students, institutions, faculty and staff. Data from DNSFilter reveals spikes in specific threat types as students return to class.
Key statistics and insights from DNSFilter's research find that educational institutions should be prepared to see the following:
Targeted Textbook Scams
-- A textbook financing scam site snagged 3,000+ search queries in just 11
days last August. While that domain has since been taken down, similar
fake textbook offers continue to crop up.
-- Experts anticipate another surge in textbook scams with the new school
year targeting college students.
Impersonating School Sites
-- One campaign used multiple domains to impersonate a school CDN (content
delivery network). All domains were registered on the same day, likely
to appear legitimate or as though it might be a domain registered by the
school.
-- Researchers observed increased scam traffic to school-related sites
between August-September (start of school year) and December-January
(winter break).
Cell Phone Bans May Increase Filter Bypass Attempts
-- States across the US have implemented cell phone bans in schools.
DNSFilter researchers expect that students will start to leverage school
devices for activities usually reserved for personal devices, which
would require bypassing school filtering to access gaming, social media,
or online forums that might be blocked by schools.
-- Filter avoidance traffic to DNSFilter resolvers has increased year over
year in Texas (by 15%), New York (by 57%), and Florida (by 70%)--all
states that have implemented bans.
At the start of a new school year, students and staff are given new logins and devices, creating a new security risk for schools to consider. Protective DNS helps education institutions filter out malicious domains before connections are made, stopping threats like phishing, malware and even filter bypass attempts at the source.
Ken Carnesi, CEO and co-founder, DNSFilter, said: "At a time that should be full of excitement, our data shows that schools and those they serve must be extra vigilant to avoid getting scammed by criminal opportunists. It's our goal to make it as difficult as possible for scammers to succeed."
About the company:
DNSFilter is a cybersecurity company that protects every click, leveraging AI-driven content filtering and threat protection to block threats 10 days earlier than competitors. DNSFilter's solution secures workers anywhere they are, helping to boost productivity, minimize compliance risk, and protect corporate brands on public Wi-Fi networks. Unlike traditional filtering solutions, DNSFilter deploys in minutes instead of days and is trusted by more than 43,000 organizations worldwide. Learn more about how DNSFilter is the first and last line of defense for corporate and hybrid networks at dnsfilter.com.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dnsfilter-data-reveals-pervasive-back-to-school-scams-302538212.html
SOURCE DNSFilter
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Weekly Recap: 11 Tech Press Releases You Need to See | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Sup AI Sets New Benchmark Record with 52.15% on Humanity's Last Exam | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
DEADLINE ANNOUNCED FOR 2026 NEW TOP-LEVEL DOMAIN APPLICATIONS | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Trigent Partners with WeWork India to Expand its GCC Footprint | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Skunk Works® and XTEND Expand Joint All Domain Command and Control for Advanced Mission Execution | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Exia Labs Brings Keystone to the U.S. Navy via DIU's Blue Object Management Challenge | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Altair HyperWorks 2026 Delivers Design and Simulation at Scale with AI | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Glasswall Brings Defense-Level File Sanitization to Every Government Agency and Business Using Microsoft 365 | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Buyers Edge Platform Appoints Jaime Selga to Lead Expansion Across the Middle East, Africa & Asia | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
Genpact Named a Leader in ISG Provider Lens(TM) 2025 for Insurance GCCs and Agentic AI Services | Jan 22, 2026
|
|
|
