Back to School: The ideal time for Australian schools to implement stronger cyber hygiene measures

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - February 3, 2026 - Yubico (NASDAQ STOCKHOLM: YUBICO), the creator of the most secure passkeys and the leading provider of hardware authentication security keys, has seen a sharp increase in demand for YubiKeys from Australian public schools following a recent cyber incident. 

The cyber incident prompted a renewed focus across the education sector, as schools return for the new school year, on the risks associated with account-based attacks, particularly those targeting large identity systems with long-lived credentials and inactive user accounts.

"Education systems are prime targets because they manage vast numbers of user accounts containing sensitive data, many of which remain active long after students leave," said Geoff Schomburgk, vice president for Asia Pacific and Japan at Yubico. "The start of the school year is a timely reminder that passwords alone are no longer sufficient, especially when inactive accounts can be exploited as entry points."

YubiKeys use hardware-based authentication that cannot be phished, replayed or intercepted, even if login credentials are compromised. The approach is increasingly being adopted across government, critical infrastructure and education environments to reduce the risk of account takeover and is strongly recommended by the Australian Cyber Security Centre under its Essential Eight guidelines.

"Phishing-resistant authentication closes off an entire class of attacks," said Geoff Schomburgk. "It protects both active users and dormant accounts, which are often the weakest link in large education environments."

Yubico works with governments, enterprises and education providers globally to secure digital identities and protect users from credential-based cyber threats.

About Yubico

Yubico (Nasdaq Stockholm: YUBICO) is a modern cybersecurity company on a mission to make the internet safer for everyone. As the inventor of the YubiKey, we set the gold standard for modern phishing-resistant, hardware-backed authentication, stopping account takeovers and making secure login simple.

Since 2007, we've helped shape global authentication standards, co-created FIDO2, WebAuthn, and FIDO U2F, and introduced the original passkey. Today, our passkey technology secures people and organisations in over 160 countries, transforming how digital identity is protected from onboarding to account recovery.

Trusted by the world's most security-conscious brands, governments, and institutions, YubiKeys work out of the box with hundreds of apps and services, delivering fast, passwordless access without friction or compromise. 

We believe strong security should never be out of reach. Through our philanthropic initiative, Secure it Forward, we donate YubiKeys to nonprofits supporting at-risk communities.

Dual-headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and Santa Clara, California, Yubico is proud to be recognised as one of TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies and Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies. Learn more at www.yubico.com.