Edition 16: Fortifying Higher Education: Safeguarding Against Cyberthreats

Cybersecurity often introduces cyber protection and discusses many sectors. One that has not received attention is educational institutions. These sectors are K-12, high school, and colleges. Each has a service model for education that deserves a cybersecurity conversation.

Why Do Cybercriminals Target the Education Industry?

Educational institutions are targeted for several reasons, primarily for the amount of personal student data they handle, along with student loan information, confidential research data, and a lack of adequate cybersecurity.

Critical Risk: Personal Data

From local kindergartens to internationally renowned higher education institutions, all educational organizations keep data on the learners enrolled with them. This data may include personally identifiable information, such as:

·???????? Full names

·???????? Street addresses

·???????? Email addresses

·???????? Phone numbers

·???????? Grades and aptitude information

·???????? Credit card details

·???????? Social security numbers

·???????? Student loan information

The bigger the organization, the more records it is likely to store. Unfortunately, from a cybersecurity standpoint, a larger organization will likely have organizational and security challenges and large amounts of student data. This means that threat actors know where they might find large amounts of personal data and where that data is likely to be easy to access.

Critical Risk: New Learning Technologies

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools and universities turned to remote working and remote learning to minimize the impact on their students. This increased attack surfaces by adding many new endpoints to education networks. These endpoints were frequently unvetted personal devices using unvetted connections.

The increase in endpoints combined with the rapid adoption of new technologies to facilitate online learning meant that networks increased in size and complexity without the corresponding increase in cybersecurity measures to protect them and their users.

Even long after the main thrust of the COVID-19 epidemic, business and education systems are struggling to maintain proper cybersecurity practices to monitor and protect their networks.

?Cybersecurity attacks do not discriminate but will connect to the weakest link. Today, the landscape has various risks associated with educational institutions that prevent learning. Imagine taking an online course, and one day the system goes down. You wanted to complete the course, but the cyber attack or ransomware has caused a severe disruption. This will delay your class and produce stress. Let's even go further and discuss a data breach. There's nothing to say except that your personal information has been accessed.

Traditional cyber protection programs can help educational institutions. The only question is whether it's a serious concern. In my opinion, we could balance security by onboarding educational institutions. Some of my Forbes articles are also resourceful. When writing "The Cybersecurity Mindset," the discussions often focused on "Cyber Visibility," which is a solution.

Cyber Visibility refers to having intelligence and informed knowledge concerning an organization's digital footprint, weaknesses, risks, and vulnerabilities induced by implementing inadequate controls. The traditional network perimeter no longer exists, and sustaining visibility is becoming challenging. Like many organizations, educational institutions are probably struggling to gain accurate data on asset coverage, vulnerability key metrics, real-time analysis, and actual risk exposure. When either fails, enterprises become more vulnerable, create blindspots, and serve as a "hacker appetite" – a soft target that can be exploited. It's easy to state that being proactive and driving awareness deters hackers' aggression and reduces risks. This is classic and righteous, but having a functional cyber visibility program affords educational institutions options and matures their cyber protection program. The outcome positions enterprises to improve cyber readiness and gain advanced knowledge concerning their security.

?A Call To Action

Cyber attacks are increasing, and educational institutions are often targeted due to their valuable data. We must educate students and staff on protecting themselves and the school's network from cyber threats.

From implementing robust cybersecurity protocols to educating students on safe online practices, schools can strengthen their defenses against cyber threats in numerous ways. By investing in cyber maturity these insitutions can create a safer and more secure learning environment.

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