According to a new report published by managed network services provider Infoblox Inc., an overwhelming majority of IT professionals (81 percent) who work for institutions of higher learning say that securing campus networks has become increasingly challenging over the past two years.
The report titled, “Defending Networks at Higher Learning Institutions - Heroes Needed,” which polled more than 600 students, IT professionals and staff from higher education institutions in the U.S., U.K. and Germany, found that networks at colleges and universities are also incredibly complex, which can make them more vulnerable to attack.
Connected Devices Proliferate on Campus
According to the report, the average student now brings four or more devices with them on campus with 89 percent of IT professionals reporting an increase in the number of connected devices on campus networks. Just two years ago, students primarily brought laptops and smartphones with them to school, but in today’s Internet of Things landscape, students are also now using tablets (61 percent), smartwatches (27 percent) and even gaming consoles (25 percent) on campus. In addition, the report found that 60 percent of faulty, students and IT professionals use four or more connected devices, further increasing activity on the network .
Insider Threats a Growing Concern
Aside from the growing number of connected devices on campuses, IT administrators say internal threats are on the rise as 48 percent of those surveyed reported that the greatest security risks come from within the campus. In fact, 54 percent of IT administrators say that at least 25 percent of student’s devices come onto campus already infected with malware and one in three students say they know of fellow classmates that have attempted malicious acts on the school’s network.
Poor Cybersecurity Hygiene
Despite the threats posed by the growing number of devices and insider threats, faculty and staff were also found to utilize poor network security practices. In the last two years, 60 percent of faculty and staff have not made any network security changes, and 57 percent use out-of-date security measures, such as updating passwords as a security precaution.
Lack of education on security best-practices is one of the major contributions to student and faculty poor security hygiene. Thirty-nine percent of IT administrators polled said that users not being educated on security risks is one of their biggest challenges to keeping the network secure.
“As higher education institutions embrace digital transformation and users become more device reliant, their networks have become more complex and difficult to manage,” said Infoblox CTO of Field Engineering Victor Danevich. “With this complexity, networks become more volatile and vulnerable to cyberattack if proper network security measures are not in place.”
To download a full copy of the report, click here.
