Simple Solutions to Secure Your Hybrid Learning Environment
The security landscape has shifted for schools. In years past, students would show up in person with their school-issued devices, log on to the secure school network and conduct the learning day under the close watch of IT admins.
Today, “students in more than 90 countries are being instructed through multiple modalities, with some schools open, others closed and many offering hybrid learning options,” according to UNICEF.
With these “multiple modalities'' come multiple cybersecurity risks. From new security gaps to unmonitored cloud applications, navigating this fluid landscape now requires more than on-premises security alone.
Education is your strongest tool
Most cybercriminals probably consider your staff and students the easiest way to compromise your school’s security. Having regular, school-wide training sessions on cybersecurity best practices can keep them from being exploited.
To strengthen these “weak links” in your network security, eSchool News recommends educating students and staff on how to guard against threats like:
Ransomware, also known as Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), that aims to expose sensitive student data if the demanded ransom isn't paid.
Malware, a virus that can be unintentionally downloaded via web browser, PDF or RTF, infecting a device or entire network.
CMS and IoT threats, nine of the top 10 exploits target these two endpoints. IoT devices that connect via a home network and learning content management systems both offer access to partially secured enterprise environments.
Phishing attacks, which can open up your network to malicious code, websites or other threats
Monitor your cloud applications
Hybrid learning hinges on the cloud. As school’s make their migration, becoming increasingly reliant on cloud applications, hackers are taking note.
With more cloud applications being installed than any other time in back-to-school history, security parameters must expand to keep a more careful watch overall new and existing applications. Monitoring tools are essential if IT admins are to immediately respond to potential risk factors like unusual behaviour, suspicious logins, questionable third-party application authorisations or loose permissions.
The challenge is in continually surveying decentralised cloud application activity across new, unknown apps – an activity that more often transpires outside the school’s dedicated network. It’s one reason collaboration apps like Google Meet and Google Drive have been so helpful as hybrid learning increases in importance. It allows students to communicate and share content from anywhere, while the IT pros continue to monitor activity from a known, trusted source.
Focus on user access
If your school’s security solutions haven’t previously accounted for hybrid learning, now’s the time to make sure they’re robust and complete, instead of simply patched. The education sector is a slow-moving target for malicious actors looking to take advantage of the transition to remote learning environments.
School’s can start by prioritizing Zero-Trust Access (ZTA). With a zero-trust approach, access privileges are restricted to an as-needed basis. Doing so decreases the vulnerability of your networks and cloud applications, giving the IT Team more time to vet access requests.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is another cybersecurity solution that’s easy to implement and effective at keeping credentials from being stolen. The simple act of asking users to provide additional authentication can help your IT Team significantly decrease the number of successful unscrupulous logins.
As a school’s digital infrastructure becomes more involved, cyber threats become more evolved. Preventing an attack may require some foresight, but securing your hybrid learning environment doesn’t have to be complicated. Identifying potential vulnerabilities and acting swiftly to get the entire school on board can help defend against disaster.
For more information and additional support, please get in touch with the Sweethaven team:
