Cybersecurity for Higher Education | Compass IT Compliance

Verizon's 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report recorded 382 cybersecurity incidents in the education sector throughout the year, 99 of which had confirmed data disclosures. The report lists financial gain as the leading motive for attackers — 80% of all cyberattacks — with espionage motives following in second place, representing 11% of all attacks.

Web application attacks accounted for roughly a quarter of the breaches in the education sector throughout 2019, mainly resulting from the frequent compromise of cloud-based mail services via phishing links to fraudulent login pages.

IT Security and Compliance for Higher Education

Colleges and universities maintain sensitive information from students, faculty, and donors. Whether you are a community college, technical institute, ivy league school, or liberal arts college, you would not be able to operate without collecting, maintaining, and transmitting sensitive data.

Higher education institutions are attractive targets for cyber attackers as they often possess data including social security numbers, payment card information, student loan details, and protected health information (PHI). On top of the information higher education institutions hold on their students, another significant risk is the intellectual property surrounding research they may be conducting. In recent years, higher education institutes have been targeted by foreign nations looking to steal research data for economic and military advantages. When you combine all this with the fact that many colleges and universities operate in a decentralized environment, the risk of data theft and loss is tremendous.

The higher education sector faces many challenges related to information security, including:

Decentralized environments
Numerous federal, state, and industry regulations
Limited budgets
Speed of technology deployment

Penetration Testing

Identify and attempt to exploit vulnerabilities that cybercriminals could take advantage of, providing valuable remediation insights.

Virtual CISO (vCISO)

Leverage a team of veteran security professionals full or part-time to identify risks and enhance your security program.

GLBA Compliance

Risk assessments, audits, and implementation strategies to achieve and maintain compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

Vulnerability Assessments

Discover and report on security flaws to identify potential attack vectors across networks, hardware, software, and systems.

PCI DSS Compliance

Evaluate how your organization stores, processes, and transmits cardholder data to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

Business Continuity Planning

Document your essential business functions, identify which systems and processes must be sustained, and detail how to maintain them.

HIPAA Compliance

Strengthen information security to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's Security and Privacy Rules.

Firewall Security Review

Identify any potential security vulnerabilities present within your firewall according to industry requirements and best practices.

NIST Compliance

Conduct risk assessments to ensure compliance with the various National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks.

Ready to Get Started?

Contact Compass IT Compliance Today

The highly certified experts at Compass IT Compliance have spent the past decade working with private and public colleges and universities of varying size and organizational structure. We are familiar with the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT) questionnaire framework and can assist both schools and vendors. Get in touch with us online or call (401) 353-3024 today to discuss your unique challenges!

Higher Education Industry