Keeper Security Research Report Reveals 41% of Schools Have Experienced AI-Related Cyber Incidents

New report highlights widespread AI adoption in classrooms with fragmented safeguards that are leaving institutions vulnerable

Keeper Security, the leading cybersecurity provider of zero-trust and zero-knowledge Privileged Access Management (PAM) software protecting passwords and passkeys, privileged accounts, secrets and remote connections, released a new research report named AI in Schools: Balancing Adoption with Risk. The study reveals how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping education – and the growing cybersecurity risks to students, teachers and administrators – as adoption accelerates.

Surveying more than 1,400 education leaders across primary, secondary and higher education in the United Kingdom and United States, the research finds that while AI is already integrated into classrooms and faculty work, development of policies and protections needed to manage new risks is still nascent:

• 41% of schools have experienced AI-related cyber incidents, including phishing campaigns, misinformation and harmful student-generated content.
• Nearly 30% of schools reported instances of harmful AI content, such as deepfakes created by students.
• While 86% of institutions allow students to use AI tools and 91% permit faculty use – most schools only have guidelines with no formalized policies.
• 90% of education leaders expressed some level of concern about AI-related cybersecurity threats.
• Only one in four respondents felt “very confident” in recognizing AI-enabled threats like deepfakes or AI-driven phishing.

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“AI is redefining the future of education, creating extraordinary opportunities for innovation and efficiency,” said Darren Guccione, CEO and Co-founder of Keeper Security. “But opportunity without security is unsustainable. Schools must adopt a zero-trust, zero-knowledge approach to ensure that sensitive information is safeguarded and that trust in digital learning environments endures.”

Keeper delivers zero-trust and zero-knowledge cybersecurity solutions designed to meet the stringent requirements of the education and public sectors. Its unified PAM platform, KeeperPAM®, integrates enterprise password management, secrets management, zero-trust network access and endpoint privilege management with agentic AI-driven threat detection and response. Keeper’s modern, cloud-native solutions enable schools to protect sensitive data, streamline compliance and reduce the risk of damaging breaches.

Keeper is certified to the highest standards, including FedRAMP and GovRAMP Authorizations,  providing trust, scalability and ease of deployment for public institutions.

“Cybersecurity is no longer a back-office function – it is central to protecting students, enabling educators and preserving the integrity of institutions,” said Anne Cutler, Cybersecurity Evangelist at Keeper Security. “Critical decisions made in the early stages of AI adoption will shape, not just how the technology is used in classrooms, but how confidently society embraces it for generations to come.”