How Students And Faculty Can Easily Strengthen Their Cybersecurity

All aspects of our lives are becoming increasingly virtual, and education is no exception. E-learning is a massive part of the student and faculty’s daily activities, meaning there are even more cybersecurity risks than before. Unfortunately, the education system is one of the most vulnerable regarding cybersecurity, with millions of malware incidents occurring yearly. 

In this article, we will detail how students and faculty members can leverage their cybersecurity and technology to ensure they reduce the risks of any cyber or physical security threats arising.

Photo by Shubham Sharan on Unsplash

Manage your passwords wisely

Choosing the same passwords for every account is easy, but you open yourself up to many risks by doing this. Think about it this way; if a hacker accurately guesses your password for one account, they would then be able to access all of your accounts if you used the same password for everything.

Instead of doing this, we recommend always choosing unique passwords that will be more difficult to guess, using special characters and a range of upper and lower case letters. Then, store them in a password manager to ensure you will be able to find the password if you forget it in the future. 

Change your passwords often

Many places of education have started to require passwords to be changed every few months for college, university, and school emails and platforms. Again, being vigilant with your password choices and changing them often will make it much more difficult for you to be hacked. 

Faculty should consider making this a requirement for students to ensure everyone’s work and documents are always safe in the school system, with cyber risks at a low. Use multi-factor authentication for all accounts possible

University email accounts should require multi-factor authentication to guarantee that the person requesting access to them is definitely a student or staff member. Multi-factor authentication works by combining a user credential with a password. For example, linking their phone number to the account to send a pin code that needs to be entered to access the account is an efficient authorization method.  

Keep your devices and software up-to-date

Manufacturers are constantly working to leverage their past creations, and software is no different. So whether you use an iPhone or an LG computer, these systems are designed to always be on the lookout for the latest security flaws, and staying updated helps to ensure you won’t fall victim to any loopholes in their old systems.  

All university and school platforms or devices should have automatic update settings turned on. Keeping devices up to date allows users to access the latest security software updates, making for the most secure and up-to-date service. 

Choosing the same passwords for every account is easy, but you open yourself up to many risks by doing this. Think about it this way; if a hacker accurately guesses your password for one account, they would then be able to access all of your accounts if you used the same password for everything.

Instead of doing this, we recommend always choosing unique passwords that will be more difficult to guess, using special characters and a range of upper and lower case letters. Then, store them in a password manager to ensure you will be able to find the password if you forget it in the future. 

Change your passwords often

Many places of education have started to require passwords to be changed every few months for college, university, and school emails and platforms. Again, being vigilant with your password choices and changing them often will make it much more difficult for you to be hacked. 

Faculty should consider making this a requirement for students to ensure everyone’s work and documents are always safe in the school system, with cyber risks at a low. 

Use multi-factor authentication for all accounts possible

University email accounts should require multi-factor authentication to guarantee that the person requesting access to them is definitely a student or staff member. Multi-factor authentication works by combining a user credential with a password. For example, linking their phone number to the account to send a pin code that needs to be entered to access the account is an efficient authorization method.  

Keep your devices and software up-to-date

Manufacturers are constantly working to leverage their past creations, and software is no different. So whether you use an iPhone or an LG computer, these systems are designed to always be on the lookout for the latest security flaws, and staying updated helps to ensure you won’t fall victim to any loopholes in their old systems.  

All university and school platforms or devices should have automatic update settings turned on. Keeping devices up to date allows users to access the latest security software updates, making for the most secure and up-to-date service. 

Be aware of online scams and phishing

Everyone attending an educational facility must know of online scams and phishing. Unfortunately, students are the target of many phishing cases, with fraudsters pretending to be trustworthy sources offering discounted educational resources such as textbooks and tuition to more severe and pricey matters such as housing. 

If something seems too good to be true, it most likely is. So, faculty and school staff members should ensure they have resources that allow students to learn about online scams and phishing to prevent any serious risks. 

Final thoughts

If the five above points were followed and implemented in all educational facilities, it’s likely that cyber risks would be much lower and would be able to be prevented more easily. The majority of these steps should be initiated by the school staff, with students actively learning how to strengthen their security and following the lead of the trusted staff members for converged security.  It’s also a good idea to take a basic cybersecurity course. Luckily, online programs like Lumify Learn’s online IT courses and cybersecurity training are easily accessible nowadays.

 

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