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Summary
Improving security standards in education involves safeguarding sensitive data, ensuring operational continuity, and building a culture of cybersecurity awareness. Educational institutions, often prime targets for cyber threats, need to adopt proactive strategies to protect their networks and communities.
Focus on core defenses: Invest in fundamental security measures such as endpoint protection, firewalls, and multi-factor authentication to secure critical assets and maintain operational stability.
Conduct regular training: Educate students, faculty, and staff on recognizing phishing attempts and adopting secure online practices to reduce insider threats and human errors.
Implement layered backups: Use encrypted, offline, and immutable backups to ensure data recovery and protection against ransomware attacks.
Ransomware remains a significant concern for higher education institutions. Universities store vast amounts of sensitive data and operate large, decentralized networks, making them prime targets.
In this article, I delve into the financial, operational, and reputational toll of ransomware attacks on universities. I also share actionable preventive measures and mitigation strategies to safeguard your institution.
Discover how to:
☁ Conduct regular, encrypted backups and store them offline.
🎣 Train staff and students to recognize and avoid phishing attempts.
🛠 Keep all software updated with the latest security patches.
⛔ Implement strict access controls.
🔍 Perform continuous attack surface assessments to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities.
Stay ahead of cyber threats and protect your institution’s invaluable data. Read the full article here
#CyberSecurity#Ransomware#HigherEducation#CyberThreats#AttackSurfaceManagement
In the past few months, my team has assisted universities with multiple cyber incidents. These recent incidents underscore the need for systemic changes.
Here are some key recommendations:
- Centralize cybersecurity efforts: Implement a unified approach to managing security across the institution.
- Enhance asset management: Maintain an up-to-date inventory of all installed applications and systems.
- Promote security awareness: Educate faculty, staff, and students on best practices and the importance of cybersecurity.
- Assess and manage risks: Regularly evaluate potential vulnerabilities and take proactive measures to mitigate them.
- Balance autonomy and security: Ensure faculty have the necessary tools while maintaining control over application installations.
- Implement immutable backups: Ensure that backups cannot be altered or deleted, providing a reliable recovery option in case of a cyber incident.
By adopting these strategies, universities can better protect their data and the personal information of their community.
#CybersecurityHigherEducation#CyberThoughtLeaders#Dataprotection#CyberElite
Many of my Higher Education clients are in “budgeting season” dealing with uncertainty around funding and how to prioritize whatever their budgets end up being.
I’d like to provide them some guidance on how best to do that. If you have 5 minutes, take a quick read and please provide your feedback. I’ll compile all LinkedIn’s wisdom and re-post the final here.
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Framework: “Prioritize/Scale/Stretch”
PRIORITIZE: Start with Core Defenses and Risk Mitigation(non-negotiables for survival & compliance).
SCALE: Allocate to Detection & Response and Training as budget grows, balancing reactive and preventive measures. (Think about outsource vs. insource)
STRETCH: Invest in Innovation only if foundational buckets are solid, framing it as a competitive edge. (Don’t chase shiny objects)
1. Core Defenses: Foundational Security (30-40%)
- Purpose: Protect critical assets & ensure business continuity.
- Focus Areas: Endpoint protection (antivirus, EDR), Network security (firewalls, intrusion detection), Identity & access management (MFA, SSO).
- Why It Matters: This is the “lock the doors” bucket—essential to prevent breaches that could disrupt operations or damage reputation. It’s the baseline investment for stability.
2. Risk Mitigation & Compliance (25-30%)
- Purpose: Reduce exposure to legal, regulatory, & financial penalties.
- Focus Areas: Tools & Services required for demonstrating compliance (GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GLBA, CMMC, etc.), Vulnerability management and penetration testing, Data discovery, classification, encryption and backup solutions.
- Why It Matters: Demonstrates due diligence and safeguards against fines/lawsuits, aligns with governance & risk oversight responsibilities.
3. Threat Detection & Response (20-25%)
- Purpose: Enable rapid identification and containment of incidents.
- Focus Areas: Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Incident response planning & tools (SOAR), Threat intelligence subscriptions.
- Why It Matters: Shows proactive preparedness, minimizing downtime and costs when an attack occurs—key for operational trust.
4. Employee Training & Awareness (10-15%)
- Purpose: Strengthen the human firewall against phishing and errors.
- Focus Areas: Regular cybersecurity training programs, Simulated phishing exercises, Policy enforcement tools.
- Why It Matters: People are often the weakest link; this low-cost bucket yields high returns by reducing insider risks and showing cultural commitment.
5. Innovation & Future-Proofing (5-10%, if budget allows)
- Purpose: Stay ahead of emerging threats and technologies.
- Focus Areas: AI-driven security analytics, R&D for industry-specific threats.
- Why It Matters: Signals forward-thinking leadership and adaptability, protecting growth and competitiveness.
Ross HaleliukEd Hudson, MPAChris PringleDr.Osniel CapoteRandy MarchanyDr. Chase CunninghamMarshall HeilmanTom PalomakiSean SteeleSelwyn Sturisky