Preventing Security Breaches in Higher-Ed Tech

Each week just over 1 security breach occurs at a college, university or other higher education institution. That’s over 500 breaches at more than 320 higher-ed institutions, since 2005. How are these security breaches occurring?

According to a new infographic by security and data backup company, SysCloud, hacking is on the rise in higher-ed just as it has been in other industries (such as the recent Sony and Target hacks, to name a few). In fact, 36% of all security breaches in higher-ed are caused by hacking or malware – and close behind at 30% is unintended disclosure, which is defined as sensitive information being posted publicly online or sent to the wrong party. But this “unintended disclosure” could also be the direct result of a hacking.

So where are these hackers finding security vulnerabilities in higher-ed? SysCloud’s infographic suggests that lack of encryption could be a major contributing factor, since only half of all Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is ever encrypted in transit or at rest.

There are several ways that colleges and universities can prevent security breaches – especially as many of them move to vulnerable but cost-efficient infrastructures such as the cloud. As real-time and automation have made its way to the top of IT trends, backing up important student data and monitoring live security threats has been easier than ever. There are also some great frameworks out there to help institutions meet government security compliances, further strengthening encryption.

Take a look at SysCloud’s full infographic below for more higher-ed security statistics and 5 ways to protect data and meet compliance.