The COVID and post-COVID online education boom have led to knowledge is easily accessible to a ton of students of all kinds. But this has come along with a few caveats, namely, those related to any widely accessible service available online.
In terms of e-learning, cyber security has become a significant concern for students. The most common threats they face are deliberate software attacks, including viruses, worms, macros, denial of service, and deliberate acts of sabotage, trespass, vandalism, and data theft.
Let’s look at how you can improve digital security to ensure a safe learning experience.
Cyberattack statistics
According to research by Kaspersky, the number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks affecting educational resources grew by 550 percent from January 2019 to January 2020. As for phishing attacks, over 90 percent of cyber attacks today start with phishing, according to Consortium for School Networking (CoSN).
For each of the most commonly used tools like Zoom, Moodle, Google Meet, etc., there has been an exponential growth in the number of fake domains that exist solely to collect users’ confidential information. In the first six months of 2020, security experts detected 168,550 cyberattacks on unique users on online learning platforms and video conferencing applications, Kaspersky reports. This is compared to what was witnessed in 2019, which is an increase of 20,455 percent.
What you should know about cybersecurity
While all this may sound very grueling, it is not very difficult to keep oneself secure and safe from such attacks. Education about this topic is vital, along with the basic acts like never sharing or recording your passwords in unsecured locations and entering your passwords on unconvincing websites.
Establishing specific standards and rules — like the use of encrypted websites and apps, very strict password standards, the ability to differentiate between real and fake websites, and the use of secure Virtual Private Network (VPNs) to ensure a closed system — can go a long way in keeping your personal information private.
It is also crucial to understand the importance of having a backup of your data. Attacks like DDoS, data breaches, and ransomware are made with the sole purpose of denying you access to your data. The best way to prevent being affected by this is to have an isolated backup system that allows you access to your data even when such an attack occurs.
Virtual EOCs (emergency operations centers) should be set up for any online education institution. They should implement corporate approaches to managing their information security risks as part of existing structures. Institutions must identify the “controls” of data for establishing a clear line of safe information sharing in a distributed environment.
One needs to properly understand different aspects of cybersecurity governance requirements to take necessary measures. It will require the allocation of day-to-day responsibilities for assessing, managing, and reporting risks appropriately.
Going forward
Cyberattacks are an ongoing issue that looms over just about everyone. As cyber attackers continue to learn new skills to penetrate the security of our systems, teachers, and students will need to defend their own devices and personal information.
Fortunately, safe and secure education is a possibility. Schools and colleges will need to check their cybersecurity measures by making changes that will help to better protect online learning facilities and resources for a safer environment.
