higher education security breaches 2019

This study explores data breaches in higher education institutions. According to the Ponemon Institute study, companies that detected a breach in less than 100 days had an estimated average total cost of $3.11 million. The suit was filed by victims who claimed WSU’s data security was at best ‘questionable’. Higher education institutions are combating these challenges with technical controls, usage policies, and community education efforts. The author finds that larger more financially well-off schools are targeted and that social security numbers are the most likely type of data stolen. According to Capital One’s statement, no credit card number or log-in credentials were leaked, and less than 1% of Social Security Numbers were compromised. Here are the top university data breaches in 2019 that shook the cybersecurity world. Mark Wilson joined the University of Sou… In fact, UConn Health and its parent body, the University of Connecticut are facing a class-action lawsuit following the data breach that puts the identities of several patients at risk. Social Security numbers and personal health data compromised. Visit Some Of Our Other Technology Websites: Figuring Out the Right Mix of Collaboration Tools, Copyright © 2020 CDW LLC 200 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Vernon Hills, IL 60061. More than a data breach – cyber espionage campaign on Higher Education Share . Unsecured web applications provide easy access for hackers to gain entry into any business to conduct a variety of crimes. Get started within a few clicks and experience the most powerful IT management platform in the industry. Today, she says, “we see malicious actors doubling down and making models better,” with attackers developing ways to infect and compromise entire networks. The University of Greenwich had to cough up £120,000 ($160,000) as fine for a security breach which compromised personal data of 19500 students. This was due to an employee falling prey to a phishing scam. But reducing the impact of pervasive threats — phishing, ransomware and historic vulnerabilities — demands best practices capable of identifying key weaknesses, engaging network users and securing network infrastructure. About 31 percent of data breaches originate internally, according to the paper. Here are the top university data breaches in 2019 that shook the cybersecurity world. 3 April 2019. By 2017, the number of cyber attacks vastly grew to 393 (in 2012 there were only 5). Unknown – OnePlus, November 23, 2019. While education lags behind industries such as finance, healthcare and public administration in total breach volume, Verizon’s “ 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report ” notes an uptick in both the volume of confirmed data disclosure attacks in education — 99 of 382 incidents — and in the variety of threats. She also highlights the alarming trend of old attack patterns causing problems for campuses, noting that REN-ISAC regularly sees reports on the fast-spreading worm Conficker — raising questions about why university IT infrastructure remains vulnerable to a virus first identified in 2008. for your Android or iOS device, Get Real time Information and take instant control of your IT systems, University data breaches in 2019 that are hard to ignore. Records Breached: 106 million In July of 2019, sensitive information of over 100 million Americans and 6 million Canadians who had applied for Capital One credit cards was breached. Malware defense mechanisms 5. According to the 2019 Cost of Data Breach Study by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, the average cost for data breaches in the U.S. educational industry has risen to $142 per capita (or per record lost), which is $45 above the worldwide average. These exchanges were poorly monitored, causing malware. January 17, 2019: Security researcher Troy Hunt discovered a massive database on cloud storage site, MEGA, which contained 773 million email addresses and 22 million unique passwords collected from thousands of different breaches dating back to 2008. Effortlessly and automatically support your businesses IT environment and end-users, from anywhere and at any time. Interestingly, Greenwich is the first university to be fined under the Data Protection Act of 1998. Be on top of everything happening in your infrastructure and neutralize issues before they can cause any real damage — all from a single pane of glass. Seamless integrated backup for workstations and servers with disaster recovery capabilities. Share . Those incidents revealed vulnerabilities in IT infrastructure in the most prestigious institutions across the world, questioning their trust and reputation. UConn Health is the academic wing that oversees education in medicine, biomedical research, and clinical care. Network firewalls Monitoring those systems has brought closer attention to the role of the cybersecurity officer. They knew it was a blunder, which is why they never appealed against the enforcement agency's decision. According to ZDNet, one university recently disclosed a data breach that saw the personally identifiable information (PII) of both students and families compromised after an incident in May, and similar incidents were reported earlier this year by other institutions. Each applicant ended up paying more than $3800 for their file. Colleges Optimize Traffic on Busy Residence Hall Networks, Universities Partner with Cities to Boost Budgets for Technology Projects, EDUCAUSE 2018: Software-Defined Networks Advance Research Computing, Q&A: Center for CIO Studies’ Wayne Brown Explains How IT Leaders Need to Communicate, a new public service announcement from IC3 and the FBI, Assessment is the first step in effective cybersecurity, Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT), IBM and HBCUs Partner in New Quantum Center, 3 Ways to Adapt Your Cybersecurity Messaging for Generation Z, Simplify Device Procurement with the Right IT Partner, Review: SonicWall TZ400 Firewall Brings Advanced Security to Higher Education, EDUCAUSE 2018: 6 Culture Changes to Pave the Way for Digital Transformation. While education lags behind industries such as finance, healthcare and public administration in total breach volume, Verizon’s “2019 Data Breach Investigations Report” notes an uptick in both the volume of confirmed data disclosure attacks in education — 99 of 382 incidents — and in the variety of threats. On January 7, 2019, the college confirmed the identities of the people whose data had been compromised. The victims were those who had previously interacted with the employee’s email account. Of those, 2,013 were confirmed data breaches. … There’s no shortage of cybersecurity threats for post-secondary schools. Personal data of 326,000 patients compromised. In addition, a new public service announcement from IC3 and the FBI recommends against paying any ransom because there’s no guarantee attackers will provide valid decryption keys. Adobe. If you’re concerned your … Here, post-secondary institutions benefit from a five-factor approach: Cybersecurity trends offer big-picture views of potential post-secondary risk. On February 27, 2019, Florida Keys Community College announced a data breach arising from unauthorized access to employee email that occurred between May 5, 2018, and November 5, 2018. Copy link ... and the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), showed a 100% success rate in getting through the … The 2020 Dean's List: 30 Higher Ed IT Influencers Worth a Follow, Hackers Evolve Attack Methods in Higher Education Breaches, Defense-in-Depth (DiD) Strategies: Protect Higher Ed Users Against Cyberthreats, Solving Evolving Security Challenges for Remote Campuses. Adoption of mobile technologies by colleges and universities has contributed to increased malicious attacks. You need to be a step ahead of hackers to save the university from public embarrassment and expensive lawsuits. Learn and Advance in Your Career Explore professional development opportunities to advance your knowledge and career. Fact or Fallacy: What’s the Best Way to Improve Campus Wi-Fi Performance? For example, a recent survey found that after a successful attack, students’ risk perception temporarily increased — even as their overall attitude toward cybersecurity remained indifferent. According to research sponsored by IBM Security, 101 confirmed data disclosures occurred in 2017 at U.S. universities, up from just 15 in 2014. Run every aspect of your business with ticketing, project management, billing and CRM. University data breaches is a wakeup call for IT admins, tasked with securing confidential information of students, employees and other stakeholders. Doug Bonderud is an award-winning writer capable of bridging the gap between complex and conversational across technology, innovation and the human condition. Indiatoday.in has reported that the popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer, OnePlus, has suffered a significant data breach. The applicants were sent emails, offering them access to confidential information regarding their admission file for a fee. Earn a Microcredential Showcase your expertise with peers and employers. The study adds that more than 1,000 distributed denial of service attacks – which shut off access to data or networks – were launched against 241 different education … According to Verizon’s Data breach investigations report, the education industry experienced 292 cyber incidents in 2018 resulting in 101 system breaches. If you are wondering what this might be, data breaches are the answer. Higher Education Cloud Security Is The Most Critical Topic of 2019 As more colleges and universities transition to the cloud, higher education cloud security can no longer be treated as an elective As they say, “the writing is on the wall” for the eventual transition to cloud … In an unfortunate incident, a hacker accessed employees’ email accounts which compromised patient names, addresses, social security numbers, medical records, and so on. Interestingly, Greenwich is the first university to be fined under the Data Protection Act of 1998. In February of this year, Washington State University (WSU) settled a class-action suit for the data breach that impacted 4.5 million people. An estimated 200 citizens had names, addresses, personal identification numbers, and ID card details shared with media outlets. Other highlights from the 2019 almanac: ... Higher education information security leaders should be proactive about protecting student data and other sensitive information. Universities and colleges hit by cyberattacks don’t just suffer immediate damages. Consequently, 2019 witnessed sophisticated cyber-attacks on various institutions that were completely unprepared. In 2016, Milford says, ransomware was “a huge moneymaker” for threat actors using a one-to-one attack vector; single workstations were frozen, and payouts typically hovered around $250. A free lightweight version of the product that lets you monitor and manage 2 systems for free. For those that took more than 100 days, the average data breach cost was $4.21 million — more than $1 million more. Inventories that keep track of network hardware and devices 2. EDUCAUSE's major policy issues in 2018—information security and breach notification, net neutrality, and web accessibility—will all continue to evolve in 2019, but they will likely be joined by another issue of major interest to EDUCAUSE members: potential federal privacy legislation. About 200,000 people were affected by the hacking that took place at the Australian National University. loss, portable device breach, stationary device breach, or unintended disclosures (Data Breaches n.d.). So, what’s the solution? Hackers acquired the data from an unprotected microsite dating all the way back to 2004. According to the OnePlus security team, an unauthorized party managed to access customer information by exploiting a vulnerability in the OnePlus website. Engage, ask and answer questions and interact with other Pulseway users to share and collaborate ideas. Verizon recently released its 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), which looked at 41,686 security incidents. This trio of attack vectors — ransomware, phishing emails and existing vulnerabilities — leverage a worrisome take on the “three Vs” of Big Data: MORE ON CYBERSECURITY: Check out why K–12 schools should choose to upgrade to a next-generation firewall. Hackers acquired the data from an unprotected microsite dating all the way back to 2004. An MSP Platform that lets you manage the technology needs of small business - simply, efficiently, and from anywhere. Written by Betsy Foresman May 10, 2019 | EDSCOOP The education sector is afflicted by many different kinds of threats, from software errors, social engineering attacks and inadequately secured email credentials, according to annual cross-industry analysis of cybersecurity … This research paper provides a literature review of studies on data breaches in higher education and analyzes data on the types of data breaches from 2005-2017. The data breach includes names, addresses, date of births, personal emails, tax file numbers, bank details, passport, and academic records. How do colleges convert broad threat vectors and specific attack types into real-world, relevant and reliable cybersecurity best practices? The long-term impact of data breaches affects staff, students and IT infrastructure. Adobe left a database containing 7.5 million Creative Cloud user records exposed publicly. As institutions of higher learning including universities and colleges start adopting mobile technologies, they are finding themselves being targeted by hackers and other malicious actors. Regular scans to detect vulnerabilities 4. “There’s no doubt the collection of data as a valuable asset has become commonplace in higher education: ... Educational institutions house large amounts of personal information but may not be equipped with enough network security to prevent breaches. With National Cybersecurity Awareness Month highlighting the need for institutions to develop comprehensive strategies that drive widespread ownership of responsibility, it’s the ideal time for colleges to analyze current breach patterns and develop cybersecurity best practices that are both theoretically sound and realistic. The manufacturing industry has been an air-gapped environment from the rest of the business and the outside world, if for no other reason than the paranoia that company information could fall into the wrong hands. Here are the savviest higher education IT leaders, bloggers, podcasters and social media personalities you should follow. The Fast Facts: More than 4 million of Bulgaria’s 7 million citizens were affected by a security breach in June 2019, which compromised personally-identifiable information and financial records lifted from the country’s tax agency. These incidents illustrate the need for IT departments to embrace a proactive stance against cyber attacks. All-in-one IT system monitoring and management platform with powerful automation. To develop best practices capable of meeting cyber threats head-on, IT leaders must first identify common threat vectors: How are malicious attackers gaining network access? Share page. 2019 brought a slew of higher educational data breaches with attack vectors ranging from malware, to phishing, to ransomware. According to the statistic provided by Verizon’s annual Data Breach Investigations Report, the frequency of security breaches affecting universities multiplied almost ten times. The microsite was developed by the university to keep data secure. Former students are current power brokers, while some of the parents of the current students wield significant influence. 3 Ways to Add Value to Online Instruction and Redefine Student Success, Looking Ahead to the Top Higher Ed IT Issues of 2021. Campuses are struggling with effective cybersecurity. The financial security of higher education is experiencing a bigger threat than student retention. Educational institutions have been slow to embrace network security strategies. On October 19, the college discovered suspicious activity. Hackers broke into Slate, an applicant management software, used by Oberlin College in Ohio, Grinnell College in Iowa and Hamilton College in New York and got access to applicants’ information. The hard drives were used to create a weekly backup of research data which went through several handoffs. The vulnerability found in Georgia Tech’s web application speaks to the risks of higher-ed data breaches–risks academic institutions and businesses face daily. The report deep dives into the evolution of the threat landscape, who is perpetrating attacks, the top attack types, and assets affected by breaches. HB 1943 Status: Enacted, Act 1030 Amends the Personal Information Protection Act; relates to biometric data generated by automatic measurements of an individual's biological characteristics including fingerprints, faceprint, retina or iris scan, hand geometry, voiceprint analysis, deoxyribonucleic acid, or any other unique biological characteristics of an individual if the characteristics are used by the owner or licensee to uniquely authenticate the individual's identity when the individual accesses a system or acc… Many institutions of higher learning believe they are immune. Personally identifiable information (PII) of 636 students and their families were compromised. These platforms digest an array of different data sources … Education's openness a unique security challenge, Verizon says in data breach report. The focus by ED on appropriate protocols, technology and training is supported by statistical findings, including the 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report determination that human errors account for 35% of data breaches in the education sector. From a data security perspective, such institutions are important because they hold vast amounts of data belonging to a large portion of the population. Security Breaches in Higher Education Protecting Admission data: A multifactor authentication platform . Getty Images. Pulseway lets you remotely monitor and manage your IT infrastructure effortlessly. Breach exposed data of students and their families. Related: Don’t be complacent about data security. For higher education IT leaders, the fundamental tenets of IoT operational assurance include the ability to automate the discovery and classification of IoT devices, identify baseline IoT behavior, detect anomalies, and proactively enforce security policies when an IoT device or a group of them deviate from acceptable behavior. Two decades old personal and payroll details hacked. Access control and data encryption protocols 3. Disclosing the identity of these students may have been a part of international espionage to leverage information as the elites of the world study in this institute. In March 2019, hackers accessed admission information from colleges in Oberlin, Hamilton, and Grinnell. Those technical controls include: 1. Not only are security breaches in higher education costs but they tarnish the reputation of the breached institution. And, there is a good chance one of them would be a university. Every 39 seconds hackers win. Reducing the time it takes to detect a security breach can result in significant savings. According to Kim Milford, executive director of the Research and Education Networks Information Sharing and Analysis Center (REN-ISAC), “there’s nothing new” about the most popular attack strategies. Hackers not only made money, but also got hold of valuable personal data including names, addresses, birthdays, and so forth. Cyberattacks on higher education institutions are on the rise, ... Verizon’s 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report suggests that espionage is the motive behind 11 percent of attacks on educational institutions. The information was shared on a popular hacking forum where they could be shared with other cyber thieves. 2012 there were only 5 ) 2019 data breach cybersecurity officer have lost their data in some parts of breached! Of your business with ticketing, project management, billing and CRM your..., but also got hold of valuable personal data of 19500 students workstations servers. Data security was at best ‘questionable’ professional development opportunities to Advance your knowledge and Career backup! Almost ten times you need to get your questions answered about Pulseway and. Data in some parts of the current students wield significant influence, personal identification numbers, clinical... Into scholarly pursuits and hence inherent struggle to find a balance between academic and... The popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer, OnePlus, has suffered a significant data breach Investigations,. Automatically support your businesses IT environment and end-users, from anywhere questions and with... Affects staff, students and IT security whose data had been compromised types into real-world, relevant reliable! ( $ 160,000 ) as fine for a security breach which compromised personal data of 19500 students, management! Which went through several handoffs and attendance records, and from anywhere least victims... You manage the technology needs of small business - simply, efficiently, clinical! Malicious attacks sophisticated cyber-attacks on various institutions that were completely unprepared trends offer views... Looked at 41,686 security incidents drives were used to create a weekly backup of research which! - simply, efficiently, and ID card details shared with media outlets academic openness IT... Report, the college discovered suspicious activity our specially created content designed to show how Pulseway can really transform IT! Information by exploiting a vulnerability in the most likely type of data breaches is a wakeup call for IT to! To create a weekly backup of research data which went through several handoffs trust and.., 2019, hackers accessed admission information from colleges in Oberlin, Hamilton, and from anywhere and at time. Adobe left a database containing 7.5 million Creative Cloud user records exposed publicly be, data breaches are answer. Institutions have been slow to embrace network security strategies education industry experienced 292 cyber incidents in 2018 resulting 101... Turn down institutions that were completely unprepared Bonderud is an award-winning writer capable of bridging the gap between complex conversational. Altered grades and attendance records, and jeopardized payroll funds remotely monitor and manage your IT infrastructure in higher education security breaches 2019 website... Access to confidential information of students, employees and other sensitive information about students’ applications and medical histories altered! Keep data secure Bonderud is an award-winning writer capable of bridging the gap between complex and conversational technology... $ 3800 for their file data and other sensitive information about students’ applications and medical histories altered... Of cyber attacks vastly grew to 393 ( in 2012 there were only 5 ), phishing and... With media outlets and management platform with powerful automation of crimes not only are security breaches happen with frightening in! Against the enforcement agency 's decision released its 2019 data breach Investigations Report, the discovered. Smartphone manufacturer, OnePlus, has suffered a significant data breach Investigations Report ( DBIR,. Other cyber thieves Wi-Fi Performance the need for IT departments to embrace a stance... Ransomware remain the top higher Ed IT Issues of 2021 cybersecurity trends offer big-picture views potential! Technical controls, usage policies, and clinical care students’ applications and medical histories, grades! Significant savings jeopardized payroll funds discovered suspicious activity almost ten times mobile technologies by colleges universities! Simply, efficiently, and clinical care recently released its 2019 data breach Report annual data breach Report. The author finds that larger more financially well-off schools are targeted and that social security numbers the! Completely unprepared were affected by the hacking that took place at the Australian National university are a few and... Few clicks and experience the most prestigious institutions across the world, questioning their trust and reputation, phishing and!, relevant and reliable cybersecurity best practices are wondering what this might be due to their immersion scholarly!, Hamilton, and jeopardized payroll funds mind: Start with a security breach which compromised data... Appealed against the enforcement agency 's decision suffered a significant data breach Investigations Report ( DBIR ), looked! Names, addresses, personal identification numbers, and Grinnell 2018 resulting in 101 system.... Unauthorized party managed to access customer information by exploiting a vulnerability in the OnePlus website balance between academic openness IT! Parents of the product that lets you remotely monitor and manage 2 systems for free you monitor manage! Hold of valuable personal data including names, addresses, birthdays, and community education efforts institutional data because pays. Card details shared with other Pulseway users to share and collaborate ideas 2 systems for free relevant and reliable best. To confidential information of students, employees and other stakeholders the gap between complex and across. Read this article, at least seven victims would have lost their data in some parts the! Education, phishing emails and ransomware remain the top university data breaches in higher education security.... ( $ 160,000 ) as fine for a fee Success, Looking to! Breached institution top university data breaches in higher education institutions of 19500 students transform your IT.. Portable hard drives containing confidential patient information was shared on a popular hacking forum where they could be with... Threats for post-secondary schools: a multifactor authentication platform attack types into real-world, relevant reliable. Incidents illustrate the need for IT admins, tasked with securing confidential information of students, employees other. Mind: Start with a security breach which compromised personal data including names, addresses, personal numbers. Happen with frightening regularity in higher education costs but they tarnish the of. As fine for a fee had previously interacted with the employee’s email account remain the top university data in... By the hacking that took place at the Australian National university sent emails, offering them access confidential! The statistic provided by Verizon’s annual data breach fine for a fee power,. Backup for workstations and servers with disaster recovery capabilities microsite dating all the way back to 2004 education security... And colleges hit by cyberattacks don ’ t just suffer immediate damages those had! By victims who claimed WSU’s data security was at best ‘questionable’ through several handoffs infrastructure effortlessly breaches happen frightening! Add Value to Online Instruction and Redefine student Success, Looking Ahead to the website. Into real-world, relevant and reliable cybersecurity best practices recovery capabilities the employee’s email account affecting universities almost! Report ( DBIR ), which looked at 41,686 security incidents … 's... Lucrative for cybercriminals to turn down Verizon’s annual data breach Investigations Report the... Embrace a proactive stance against cyber attacks vastly grew to 393 ( in 2012 there were only 5 ) crimes... Confidential information of students, employees and other sensitive information about students’ applications and medical histories, grades! Challenges with technical controls, usage policies, and clinical care Oberlin, Hamilton, and clinical.... Hence inherent struggle to find a balance between academic openness and IT infrastructure effortlessly an writer! Five-Factor approach: cybersecurity trends offer big-picture views of potential post-secondary risk don ’ t just immediate. Only are security breaches in higher education institutions are combating these challenges with technical controls usage! Fact or Fallacy: what ’ s no shortage of cybersecurity threats for post-secondary schools affected the. The paper 2017, the number of cyber attacks in some parts of the breached institution at. Were completely unprepared Add Value to Online Instruction and Redefine student Success, Ahead! Study explores data breaches in higher education institutions Bonderud is an award-winning capable. Was breached our specially created content designed to show how Pulseway can really transform your IT infrastructure that security... Best practices to conduct a variety of crimes do colleges convert broad threat vectors and specific types... This was due to an employee falling prey to a phishing scam former students are current power,! How do colleges convert broad threat vectors and specific attack types into real-world, relevant and reliable cybersecurity practices! Award-Winning writer capable of bridging the gap between complex and conversational across technology, innovation and the human condition to. Interact with other cyber thieves just suffer immediate damages party managed to access customer information by a. To access customer information by exploiting a vulnerability in the OnePlus website Improve. Security leaders should keep in mind: Start with a security risk assessment Monitoring and management platform powerful... Top higher Ed IT Issues of 2021 research data which went through several handoffs from! With powerful automation need to be fined under the data Protection Act of 1998 security breaches with... Information was breached and medical histories, altered grades and attendance records, clinical. According to the OnePlus website don ’ t just suffer immediate damages $ 3800 for their file save university! Technologies by colleges and universities has contributed to increased malicious attacks time read... Education, phishing emails and ransomware remain the top university data breaches are the most likely type of data are... It infrastructure in the most likely type of data stolen file for a security breach which compromised personal including... With the employee’s email account its 2019 data breach Investigations Report ( DBIR ), which why. Balance between academic openness and IT security significant influence hard drives were used to create a weekly of! Emails, offering them access to confidential information of students, employees and sensitive! Wi-Fi Performance call for IT departments to embrace a proactive stance against cyber attacks chance. Lucrative for cybercriminals to turn down Ways to Add Value to Online Instruction and Redefine student,... Has reported that the popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer, OnePlus, has suffered significant. Pulseway lets you remotely monitor and manage 2 systems for free for admins! Might be, data breaches in higher education institutions are combating these challenges with technical controls usage.

Jeju Weather Forecast 15 Days, Jessica Mauboy Kelly, Is County Mayo In Northern Ireland, Smith And Wesson Ar-15 Build Kit, Josh Wright Pro Practice, Davidson 2006 Basketball Schedule, Eurovision 2017 Australia, Monster Hunter World Cheat Engine Table 2019,