INDUSTRY WATCH
IT PROFESSIONALS
ARE ALSO CHALLENGED
WITH A HIGH VOLUME OF
TURNOVER IN STUDENTS.
I
nfoblox Inc., a leader in secure cloud-
managed network services, has
announced the results of its global
survey on the state of network security at
higher education institutions.
Results reveal that 81% of IT
professionals state securing campus
networks has become more challenging
in the last two years.
The report titled Defending Networks at
Higher Learning Institutions – Heroes
Needed found that networks at higher
education institutions are incredibly
complex, which can make them more
vulnerable to attack.
For example, the average student brings
four or more devices with them on
campus with 89% of IT professionals
reporting an increase in the number of
connected devices on campus networks.
IT professionals are also challenged with
a high volume of turnover in students
each year when one quarter or more of
their users change.
Uncontrollable network – Number
of devices on the rise
While students two years ago mainly
brought laptops and smartphones
with them to college, in the age of the
Internet of Things, students are now
using tablets (61%), smartwatches
(27%) and gaming consoles (25%) on
campus, dramatically increasing the
number of devices connecting to the
campus network.
In addition to students bringing more
devices with them to school, 60% of
faculty, students and IT professionals
use four or more devices on the campus
which drives up activity on the network.
www.intelligentcio.com
The enemy within – Insider
threats on campus a major cause
for concern
In addition to the high number of devices
making managing higher education
networks difficult, internal threats are
a factor with 48% of IT administrators
believing the greatest security risks come
from within the campus.
For example, 54% of IT administrators
say at least 25% of students’ devices
come onto campus already infected with
malware. Also, one in three students have
reported knowing of fellow classmates
that have attempted malicious acts on
the school’s network.
Poor network practices and
outdated security measures
to blame
However, students are not the only ones
at fault for poor network practices. In the
last two years, 60% of faculty and staff
have not made any network security
changes, and 57% use out-of-date
security measures, such as updating
passwords as a security precaution.
Lack of education on security
best-practices is one of the major
contributions to student and faculty poor
security hygiene. A total of 39% of IT
administrators reveal that their users not
being educated on security risks is one of
their biggest challenges to keeping the
network secure.
Beyond user error though, outdated
network technology poses another
challenge. A total of 71% of students
and faculty revealed that the school
networks suffer performance issues at
least once a month. Additionally, only
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