Education Needs to Improve Its Cybersecurity in the Face of Threats

This is an alarming fact, as schools have become a new target for cybercriminals.

The safety problem in the schools came from before

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, it should be noted that cybersecurity was not a priority for education. These problems are caused by a lack of funds and a properly trained staff. This has caused schools to have basic system configuration errors, or to leave old problems unsolved.

Today, with a transition to a digital world, those effects can be more pernicious. Schools are realizing that they need knowledge and an up-to-date technology infrastructure to be able to deliver virtual learning safely in the long term. In this sense, education needs to improve its cybersecurity by modernizing itself appropriately.

Threats to education

The reason why education is an attractive option for cybercriminals is due to the large volume of data it contains. Thus, in the education sector they could obtain information:

1. About staff and students.
2. Databases of students and alumni.
3. Provider details.
4. Research data.

Cybercriminals will have a number of opportunities to exploit the security of these educational centers, as they work with old systems that are not prepared to deal with current attacks. In universities, ransomware attacks have occurred where attackers have stolen or deleted data from users’ systems. In addition, they have also made computers inaccessible, and have demanded a ransom in exchange for returning access to data.

Also, students increasingly use personal devices to connect to school networks. Thus, school systems are more likely to be compromised as multiple entry points are created that facilitate the work of cybercriminals. An important fact is that systems are only as strong as their weakest point, and often, personal devices being outdated or obsolete can make these school networks vulnerable.

Education needs to improve its cybersecurity

The best way to drive cybersecurity is by adopting a proactive mindset, rather than a reactive one. Schools should not wait for an attack to occur to prepare their defenses. IT teams, teachers, and students alike should create a security plan for how to stay safe online. This plan should include documentation that everyone can consult at any time and that offers:

• Best practices for smart use online.
• On-demand training courses, news and current trends in cybersecurity.
• The contact information of the responsible persons so that they can act if the network is compromised.

On the other hand, IT administrators must conduct regular penetration tests. One way may be to designate a red team to expose potential vulnerabilities. This is how the school system is checked under real conditions and without prior notice. This can help identify weaknesses that may not be easy to discover. In this article we recommend you read the tutorial how to learn to do pentesting .

Improve security in schools with UEM

The digital transformation in the field of education is destined to be realized in the long term. Some good strategies that we can implement to improve cybersecurity are:

• The use of patching procedures.
• Multi-factor authentication.
• The use of antivirus software.
• The disabling of scripting and macro environments.

In this sense, using solutions such as Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) can help in our cybersecurity strategy. Thanks to UEM, a greater layer of security is added to all devices used in education, whether they are laptops, tablets or smartphones. It will allow schools to manage all terminals and applications wirelessly and in real time. Thus, schools will have optimal visibility of equipment and can use mobile threat detection to thwart possible attacks. Additionally, remote view can allow teachers and IT staff to view student screens and support them with necessary steps when required. This means that risky behavior will stop before a bigger problem occurs.