Cyberthreats skyrocketed when COVID closed campuses and forced faculty, students, and staff to access important–and often sensitive–learning materials online from home computers and home networks. And with many institutions reverting to hybrid or online learning as COVID variants peak, cybersecurity threats are far from over.
As data security breaches–including ransomware attacks, phishing, and unauthorized disclosures–show no sign of slowing, higher-ed IT leaders need to be ready. Threats to higher education networks will never be eliminated, but there are strategies to successfully defend campus information infrastructure.