Dive Brief:
- A video from CDW's "IT Roadshow" series details Arkansas State University's approach to maintaining cybersecurity on a campus of 10,000 students and 3,000 faculty who each bring an average of two to three connected devices.
- Under Chief Information Security Officer Timothy Cureton, the university uses a next-gen firewall as its first line of defense, with additional zone-based policies further managing resource access, according to Ed Tech: Focus on Higher Ed.
- The university is also utilizing encryption tools to maintain privacy around sensitive files and information amid a campus culture built around openness.
Dive Insight:
When approaching cybersecurity, adopting practices that balance protection of the most vulnerable and sensitive information and easy access to the network is key in maintaining productivity and satisfaction among campus stakeholders. And as many IT officials have recognized, even with strong security measures in place, a network's greatest vulnerability is ultimately its users.
To that end, campus CIOs and CISOs would be wise to also implement measures like those found at the University of Dayton, where a focus is placed on educating students, faculty and staff with regular phishing tests offered by a company called KnowBe4; emails with updates, warnings and the latest security news; and incentives and prizes for people who complete certain actions. With colleges and universities serving as increasingly popular targets for malicious hackers, every effort matters.