Ways to Improve Cybersecurity in Educational Organizations

Security threats are now no more restricted to business organizations, government institutes, and private systems; with the emergence of K-12 it has made its reach in educational institutes as well. Educational data is equally important as other organization’s data and hackers find them an easy target as security measures are not strictly followed. Awareness among the staff is also missing which makes the data highly vulnerable to cyber attacks. The changing cyber environment requires educational institutes to be also aware and vigilant against cyber threats and implement the required measures for the same.

Avoid Using Public Wi-Fi

Devices which store student and other sensitive data must not be connected with public Wi-Fi as hackers might be eavesdropping to gain access to data. It is advisory to only use verified Sim cards, dongles, and VPN for the same. VPN disguises device’s IP address and location with some other regions which make it difficult for hackers to crack into the system.

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Refrain Phishing Mails and Baiting Attacks

Phishing Emails appears to be legitimate correspondence from a familiar source linked to destructive software which might encrypt or steal organizations data. One must check the sender’s address properly for added characters or different spelling. Thoroughly go through other elements of the mail like the logo, branding, clumsy wording and grammatically poor content, and presentation. In case of doubt, one must not open any given links and directly report to the IT department. Use of external drives without a scan in organizations system must be avoided as they may contain malicious programs.

Double Checking of Web Addresses

Many hackers create similar looking web addresses of popular websites that often people don’t pay attention to and access the same; these URLs have threats associated to them and as soon as one visits it they get infected. A double check to all pop-ups and email links is essential, for this, the refereed web address can be searched on the internet and ambiguities can be detected.

Training and Monitoring

Educational organizations need to train their staffs with cybersecurity measures; also they must hire an expert CSO who can regularly provide sessions about the same. Awareness is essential for security. Monitoring of organization’s server is equally important, and timely update in security patches is required.

Check out: Cyber Security Review Magazine