Why Cybersecurity Needs to Be a Priority for College Education?

Thanks to the Internet, it became much easier and faster to find the required useful information. there are multiple ways the World Web serves us.

In the meanwhile, the protection of online users is a matter of great concern. There are lots of malicious programs and viruses created by hackers, which expose private data to everyone.

Hackers break down the firewalls of various websites and educational institutions are amongst them.

There are multiple situations when somebody broke through the firewall and stole private data about college students. Moreover, many colleges don’t even have dependable protection. They give heed to the quality of teaching, their facilities, learning materials, curriculum, etc.

These things are really important but they reduce the importance of cybersecurity for a college education. It’s not the priority and we’ll prove that it’s a big mistake.

Different Priorities of Different Organizations

Schools, colleges and universities don’t make cybersecurity their priority and it’s a huge mistake. One survey of Montgomery County public schools in Maryland revealed terrifying data.

Over 6,000 students were affected by different viruses and malicious programs. Another huge breach was registered in Pennsylvania, which exposed private data of more than 12,000 students. It’s remarkable that this data was accessed by other students for the sake of fun. If simple students can find the addresses, student identification numbers, grade point averages, and SAT scores, you can imagine what a professional hacker is able to find out.

Nevertheless, educational institutions don’t take the matter seriously.

When students turn to special writing websites, they also endanger their private data. Some websites don’t implement adequate measures to protect their databases. In the meanwhile, highly reputed writing platforms implement them. As a result, they provide guaranteed online protection and so, attract more clients.

For example, many students use professional essay writing help provided by Advanced Writers. One of the loyal clients of this academic service wrote the following testimonial – “I really appreciate the care and attention you provide to each paper”. This testimonial clearly illustrates how accurate and attentive its essay writers are. They compose papers of the highest quality because they always follow the official guidelines and the instructions of their clients.

One of the most important guarantees offered by this and similar writing agencies is the protection of privacy. Such websites aren’t greedy and spend enough money to protect their clients.

Using effective software, they successfully deflect different hacker attacks, viruses, and malicious programs. Unfortunately, not all educational institutions stick to the same strategy.

Common Problems of Education and Online Safety

To understand the need for improvement of cybersecurity, it’s necessary to know the typical problems of the online protection of educational institutions. Here are the main issues and the thoughts of experts:

• Phishing. Students are commonly tricked into clicking various malicious links or downloads. Thus, their private data becomes open to everyone. Colleges don’t install software, which detects such programs and gives a warning.
• No education. “As colleges don’t make cybersecurity their priority, they don’t properly educate students about how to protect themselves online”, said Bob Turner, CISO at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Cloud security. Matt Morton, CISO and assistant CIO at the University of Nebraska at Omaha said: “The cloud runs crazy and is very resourceful, but in the meantime, it’s very difficult to protect users”.
• The issue of novelty. “Another common problem is the implementation of the next-generation cybersecurity because many institutions cannot catch up with new tools”, Turner said.
• Identification and accessibility. “It’s important to install control for users who can access the website and offer an appropriate level of accessibility”, Morton said.
• The issue of centralization. As the government doesn’t centralize education organizations, it’s more challenging for the latter.
• Insecure personal devices. Students use various gadgets, which also contain their private data. However, they don’t properly secure it.

Effective Measures to Strengthen Cybersecurity

Fortunately, it’s possible to sufficiently ensure cyber protection. We’ll share with efficient measures. Make allowances for the following essentials:

• Installing good software. First of all, colleges should find funds and invest money into dependable software. It must be something really expensive. Nevertheless, it’s worth buying cyber protection for many reasons highlighted above.
• Continuous real-time monitoring. It is important to continuously track all the attempts of unsuccessful access to the website. Commonly, these are the signs of hackers.
• Strong passwords. It’s vital to use really strong passwords, which are longer than 4 characters. Users should use at least 8 symbols, which are the combination of letters and numbers.
• Deletion of unnecessary data. In case the students’ data is not necessary for the system, it should be deleted to avoid potential risks.
• Regular updating. Another vital measure is to update software regularly. There appear new kinds of viruses and so, colleges must use the latest updates to withstand new threats.
• Banning suspicious URLs. It’s necessary to set a default function to ban short and suspicious URLs. Commonly, they contain some viruses. For example, it is necessary to ban t.co, bit.ly, and similar ones.
• Educating students and professors. Finally, colleges should train their staff and students to protect themselves in virtual reality.

The issue of cybersecurity is important for everyone and educational organizations shouldn’t be an exception. They ought to finally pay enough time and make the necessary investments. Only after they take the steps mentioned above and some other measures, students will be safe.