Publicly, CIOs may not be sharing much information about how these attacks take place and the indicators they are looking for, but there are networks where IT leaders are sharing information, such as the REN-ISAC network based out of Indiana University. Universities, unlike many companies, are unusual in that they often try to maintain relatively open networks to encourage collaboration and ease of use, said Mike Stanfield, senior security analyst at the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University. The first part of the leak is now available for download. According to Microsoft, 61% (nearly 4.8 million) of malware encounters reported last month took aim at the education sector, making it the most affected industry worldwide. Suspected breaches must also be reported to the U.S. Department of Education, but there is some confusion about what constitutes a reportable data breach, said Vance. Email security company Tessian commented that a concerning number of top UK universities were not sufficiently protected from the most common attack vector: phishing attacks. It could cover everything. When “malicious actors” carried out a cyberattack on Regis University last August — crippling the Denver campus’s IT network and downing phones, … On June 4, hackers reportedly began publishing the data they stole from Michigan State, making it available to download on the dark web. A nursing station’s computer screen is transformed to paper bulletin board at the University of Vermont Medical Center on Nov. 20, 2020, after a cyber attack forced a shut down of key systems including electronic medical records. The spotty reporting of these incidents makes exact calculations difficult to pin down, but Verizon’s 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report shows that ransomware attacks in particular are on the rise for the educational services sector, now representing 80% of the 819 incidents logged in the most recent data-collection year. Right now many faculty members are working from home on networks that may not be secure, making college IT leaders’ jobs even more difficult. Colleges and Universities are Prime Cyber Attack Targets Cutting edge research has made Higher Education a prime target. Share your thoughts », How to write an effective diversity statement (essay), Colleges offer greetings (and a crossword puzzle) for the holidays, How to write an effective journal article and get it published (essay), The increasingly disproportionate service burden female faculty bear will have negative career conse, Higher Education Events Calendar & People, Congressional agreement on COVID-19 would give higher ed $23 billion, U of Texas will stop using controversial algorithm to evaluate Ph.D. applicants, College Leadership in an Era of Unpredictability | A Special Report from Inside Higher Ed, Live Updates: Latest News on Coronavirus and Higher Education, Trump Commutes Sentence of Man Accused of Bribing Penn, Report: Biden 'Poised' to Pick Connecticut Schools Chief as Education Secretary. Unlike retailers, whose information typically includes credit card numbers and other customer statistics, "If you read the guidance, there is a lack of clarity. Two-factor identification is an important defense, too, he said. UC San Francisco is one of the research institutions leading efforts in the U.S. to find possible treatments for COVID-19. A cyber-attack at Roanoke College in in Salem, Virginia has caused the school to hold off on the start of their spring semester. , 61% (nearly 4.8 million) of malware encounters reported last month took aim at the education sector, making it the most affected industry worldwide. Source: Shutterstock. The impact on the college was huge -- students, faculty and staff members were unable to access the university website, learning management system or email for several days. Universities have been targeted in the past with disruption campaigns such as denial-of-service attacks during peak periods such as class registration or final exams, said Schreiber. The threat of cyber attacks is heightened in 2020 with the adoption of virtual learning techniques in order to adhere to government-enforced social distancing measures, while cyber attackers have surged as hackers attempt to capitalize on the disruption. “In order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, we will need to limit what we can share at this time.”. Several media reports have suggested that this research and potentially lucrative associated intellectual property may have made the institution an attractive target for hackers. Colleges Toughen Cyber Defenses as Hacking Threats Linger Sept. 20, 2015 02:21 "For a university that's understaffed and under-resourced, it can … The college's … The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has confirmed it paid a ransom totaling $1.14 million (£925,000) to the criminals behind a cyber-attack on its School of Medicine. One way that institutions can try to prevent sensitive data from being leaked is to ensure they do not hold on to information they don't need, said Vance. The Illinois educational establishment, along with Michigan State University and the University of California, San Francisco, was targeted by cyber-criminals and given six days to pay a ransom to recover its files. Newcastle University students' data held to ransom by cyber criminals. A new report shows personal files held by local councils, universities and government departments are alarmingly vulnerable to foreign cyber attack. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) had issued an alert to the sector containing several steps […] According to a letter sent to parents by Superintendent Jeffrey Schoonover, Somerset Berkley Regional High School was the target of a ransomware attack. Early this morning (July 22, 2020), SUNY Erie Community College’s computer systems were targeted by a coordinated Ransomware cyberattack. 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