Education Faces a 2x Higher Rate of BEC Attacks: Educational institutions experience twice the rate of business email compromise (BEC) attacks compared to other industries, making them a prime target for cybercriminals (Source: Abnormal Security).
Educational Institution Replaces Proofpoint with Abnormal for Stronger Security & Efficiency
An educational institution eliminated $2.8M in operational risk, enhanced email security, and improved IT efficiency by migrating from Proofpoint to Abnormal.
Industry Context
Ransomware is a Major Threat, Costing Schools Millions: 30% of education sector data breaches involve ransomware, with the average cost to resolve an attack reaching $2.7M—leading to significant financial and operational disruptions (Source: Abnormal Security).
Supply Chain Attacks are Exploiting Vendor Relationships: Attackers compromise trusted vendors' email accounts to send fraudulent invoices and phishing attacks that bypass traditional security defenses, putting educational institutions at risk (Source: Abnormal Security).
Customer Challenge
Missed Advanced Attacks: Proofpoint failed to block 1,222 advanced threats per month, including BEC, credential phishing, and vendor compromise attacks, putting students, faculty, and staff at risk.
High Administrative Overhead: The IT team spent excessive time on manual tuning, rule modifications, and post-attack remediation, creating inefficiencies and security gaps.
Increased Risk Exposure: Without automation, the institution struggled with delays in responding to threats, leading to prolonged exposure to cyber risks.
Why Abnormal?
Unmatched Threat Detection: Abnormal’s AI blocked 1,222 advanced attacks per month that Proofpoint missed, significantly enhancing security.
Graymail & Spam Filtering: Abnormal removed 250,000+ unwanted emails per month, reducing inbox clutter and freeing up 840+ IT hours for strategic initiatives.
Automated Abuse Mailbox: Abnormal auto-remediated malicious emails, reducing IT overhead and eliminating manual triaging of security incidents.
Business Impact
Enhanced Security & Cost Savings: By replacing Proofpoint, the institution eliminated $2.8M in operational risk while improving its overall security posture.
IT Time Savings & Productivity Boost: Abnormal automated 90%+ of email threat management, reducing manual security workloads and allowing IT teams to focus on higher-priority tasks.
Seamless API Integration: Unlike Proofpoint, which required extensive configuration, Abnormal’s cloud-native solution seamlessly integrated with existing Microsoft environments, ensuring instant protection with zero tuning.