Cyber Security for Education Industry
Hackers will always be drawn to the education industry. The sheer size of the sector, as well as the potential for large financial gain, data theft, and espionage, makes it an attractive target for cybercriminals. And everybody, from students to staff, faculty members, and third-party providers, are potential targets.
Overview
Protecting the confidentiality of sensitive information is just as critical as offering a high standard of education in today’s evolving threat scenario. Inability to take proper precautions could result in the theft of vital research and the revealing of personal and financial information.
With 3,934 weekly breaches, Australia’s education sector has the fourth greatest number of cybersecurity breaches a week, up 17% over the first half of 2021. The main issue for educational institutions is to manage valuable data and resources while reducing current and future cybersecurity risks.
Challenges
Do these challenges sound familiar?
- Keeping Student Data Secure from Threat Actors
- Safely Mitigating the rise in cyber Breaches and DDOS Attacks
- Effectively Balancing Information Security and Academic Openness
- Efficiently Protecting Large Decentralised IT Estates
- Alignment to International Security Standards Such as ISO27001 or ASD Essential 8
- Complying with Australian Privacy Principles and Other Mandatory Data Security Standards
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Average cost of a data breach in Australia
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Average weekly cyberattacks in the education sector (AU)
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Global increase in attacks against education sector since 2020
Key security questions for education providers
What controls are in place to mitigate insider threats?
Are suitable controls in place to detect and respond to breaches?
Are systems in place to prevent, detect and respond to threats?
How often are applications and networks tested for vulnerabilities?
How are supply chain security risks controlled?
How are staff and student personal data processed and protected?
Compliance
Cyber security compliance in the education industry
COVID-19 has caused a disruption in the methods used to teach and learn for students. It required a quick transition to remote working as well as a re-evaluation of the systems and processes that had been in place for many years.
This abrupt transition has exposed the education industry, placing risk on compliance as well as data and intellectual property security.
We can assist you in enhancing your data and information security to the degree required to comply with the ACSC Essential 8, Australian Privacy Principles, ISO 27001 and other security requirements.
Gridware's Preventative Services
We partner deeply with clients to understand their needs, working closely and iteratively to provide robust, best-in-class security solutions.
Penetration Testing
Rapidly and efficiently determine the extent to which your network and assets can defend against cyber threats by testing them against common exploits and vulnerabilities.
PCI DSS Penetration Test
Regular assessment of your organisation’s systems and processes is among the key controls mandated by the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard(PCI DSS) to protect cardholder data.
Cloud Security Audit
Gridware will support the improvement of your cloud network monitoring capabilities to the level needed to detect and respond to cyber threats that target cloud infrastructure, services, and applications.
Network Security Penetration Testing
A form of ethical hacking that aims to validate or invalidate the efficiency of defensive network controls and determine what needs to be done to bolster them.
Cyber Awareness Training
Gridware conducts information security training and workshops at your business. We provide in-house training seminars for your staff to educate on phishing prevention, social engineering and best practice cyber procedures.
Risk Audit
Our team of cyber security consultants will perform a cyber risk assessment that will identify gaps in your existing policies and procedures, and provide detailed observations and remediation plans to help achieve your most ideal state of security.
In the Event of a Breach
Gridware's Protective Services
- Ransomware Data Recovery – In the event you are subject to ransomware, Gridware’s incident response consultants can be logged in remotely within minutes to implement our proprietary incident response methodology.
- Data Breach Investigation – Gridware will immediately assess the extent of the breach, the severity of the incident, the likely impact it will have on the business, and support your organisation through the remediation activities.