Hikvision Senior Director of Cybersecurity: 3 Integrator Network Segmentation Tips for Higher Education, SSI News Article, Part 2
In last week’s blog, we covered insights from Hikvision’s senior director of cybersecurity, Chuck Davis, and his Security Sales & Integration (SSI) news article, “How Integrators Can Solve Higher Education’s Cybersecurity Woes.” We discussed specific network differences between higher education and traditional businesses, the origins of Mirai botnet malware, and introduced network segmentation as an integrator’s first line of cybersecurity defense.
In today’s HikWire blog, we’ll outline in more depth network segmentation for higher education, and provide three tips for integrators.
Higher Education Network Segmentation
As a refresher, Davis indicated that network segmentation is a cybersecurity best practice and the first line of defense. It improves cybersecurity by isolating systems on a network, so if one device or system in infected with malware, it won’t infect the entire network. For more on this topic, read this HikWire blog on segmentation to prevent malware infection and hacks.
Ransomware, a type of malware that holds data hostage in exchange for a ransom payment, is also a threat to education institutions. With appropriate network segmentation, ransomware spread will be “limited to the network on which it was launched,” said Davis.
Integrator network tips for higher education:
- Integrators should recommend security equipment be placed on a dedicated network specifically for security equipment.
- Integrators should not use an existing college or university network for security equipment. Instead, create an isolated security equipment network to piggyback the educational facilities’ existing network.
- Institute a dedicated VPN server for the security equipment network.
Learn more: Click this link to read the entire article on SSI online.