Why Are Universities At The Higher Risk Of Phishing Attack?

1. Why Are Universities At The Higher Risk Of Phishing Attack? Universities and colleges are meant to educate, but they have to learn a lesson in cyber attack themselves. Lately, universities and colleges have been at the target of cyber criminals through phishing scams, primarily via emails. Why Are Universities At The Target? Universities have the highest data records, all personal data of students along with huge research data. Use of email on campus for communication provides an easy way to initiate phishing scams. Millions of data records and unawareness of students in the internet security lure cyber attackers to target universities. There’s hardly any email protection for college students.

2. Reasons behind targeting universities: Personal data: Universities are the goldmines of data and information, including personal data of thousands of students as well as their medical records, and adding more to the list every year. Research: Some universities and colleges are known for their impeccable research departments. The research could hold sensitive information such economic reports, international relation reports, etc. which foreign nations could be interested in. Universities often have budget constraints and lack of security to keep students safe. Phishing scams through emails Young students are the target. Scammers aim to gain access to students’ accounts through university portals. They send emails asking to pay university bills through genuinely looking emails from the college with a threat of late fee, etc. If students fall pray, they end up giving account access to the scammers. Yet another email scam includes fake employment emails asking students to pay a little fee for a part-time job, under given instructions. They often ask for fees for certain materials such as software, tools, etc. If students pay, they get nothing. Universities need to keep students aware of such scams in addition to using email protection system. For help, there’s cloud based tech support service to ensure a robust and optimal security system. Source URL: https://bit.ly/3oGDD3k