CIS officers are grappling with a variety of issues to provide better cybersecurity in higher education

Cybersecurity in higher education institutions is turning into a need. On average, a digital assault happens every 39 seconds. This implies that each gadget associated with the Internet is a possible objective at each given time, including higher education institutions as well. In order to establish a safe learning environment, higher education institutions should put forth suitable attempts to construct a solid, invulnerable cybersecurity posture. In any case, they face putting their reputation and the respectability of their understudies and staff on the line. Organized crime, insider dangers, digital extortion – these are only a portion of the dangers higher education institutions deal with. Read on and find out what are the main cybersecurity challenges higher education institutions are facing.

Here is the list of the cybersecurity challenges faced by higher education institutions:

Phishing

Phishing is one of the most important cybersecurity challenges that need to be addressed by higher education institutions. It is a type of social engineering attack often used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. It occurs when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening an email, instant message, or text message.

User education

Students have a full load, faculty work 60 hours a week, and the rest of the staff members are working on teaching, learning, and research. With these busy schedules, cybersecurity awareness often takes a backseat to teaching and learning. In order to create a safe learning environment, higher education institutions should put forth suitable attempts to construct a solid, invulnerable cybersecurity posture.

Cloud security

Cloud computing works well for the IT side of the university, but it also presents cybersecurity challenges for higher education institutions. The cloud has taken off like crazy, and it’s a great help, but at the same time, it’s complicated from an information security perspective because there’s a lot of due diligence that has to take place.

High-profile information security strategy

Cybersecurity in higher education doesn’t always top the list of university leaders’ priorities. But with cybersecurity challenges and consequences rising, it becomes important to get cybersecurity on the radar at the executive level and establish a comprehensive strategy to create a safe learning environment for students.

Next-generation security technology planning

In this expensive arms race, it’s difficult for higher education institutions to catch up with the tools that the cybersecurity industry creates given the limited resources they have. That said, they have to figure out a plan for how they will make sure their security tools are as up-to-date as possible.

Identity and access management

Cybersecurity in higher education also deals with the challenge of putting systems in place that will control who can access different applications and what level of access they need. The amount of data isn’t the bad part, the lack of protection regarding that data is. It is difficult to be sure to protect every data point floating around and the more data points, the easier the access is to hackers.

Governance over data security

Data governance is the capability within higher education institutions to help provide for and protect high-quality data throughout the lifecycle of that data. This includes data integrity, data security, availability, and consistency.

Unsecure personal devices

One of the biggest risks of connected personal devices is the fact that many are unsecured or not secured properly. Many companies use or allow BYOD (bring your own device) plans. Yet, these devices can pose a threat to cybersecurity in higher education.