Tips to Prevent Cyber Hacks in Schools
Six Steps from Hikvision to Reduce the Threat of Password Hack
Ways to reduce security concerns and prevent hacks in educational facilities are addressed in the SecurityInfoWatch.com (SIW) article, “6 tips to help curb school cyberattacks.”
From the article: “Educational institutions have become one of the top ten lists of preferred hacking targets, joining the ranks of popular targets like finance (Capital One, Equifax), retail (Target), manufacturing and transportation. As a sector known for tight budgets and limited technical staffs, it was somewhat inevitable cybercriminals would increase targeting of school data, seeing a relatively weaker universe of potential targets. Hackers are demanding ransomware payments, crippling entire school district computer operations and capturing extensive personal data, violating the privacy of students and staff.”
Tips to curb cyberattacks on schools include:
- Limit administrative privileges to only those needed for a user to perform their job function. “Ideally, a district or institution of higher learning can implement technology that not only centrally manages credentials and grants granular rights, but enables staff to self-serve access as needed, based on their work function,” said the article.
- Educate employees to recognize threats and reduce security concerns related to phishing or clicking on a malicious link. From the article: “In addition to education, all employees can take phishing tests, or drills in which they click on links and receive feedback as to whether they just clicked through to a potential malware occurrence.”
- Ensure applications are up-to-date including executing critical patches, and updating third-party applications and all operating systems.
Hikvision offered additional security tips to identify concerns and reduce risk of password hack in this blog: “SIW Has Cyber Experts Weigh In on Security Breach, Hacks and Other Security Concerns.”