Issue Brief How Secure is Your Campus Network? Cybersecurity is a high priority on higher education campuses, but evolving malicious threats leave networks vulnerable Here’s how to get ahead Introduction: The Double-Edged Threat It’s a reality of education today: Students, staff and faculty are bringing personal mobile devices to campus to access educational resources These educational resources and apps are increasingly stored in the cloud for anytime, anywhere access and to help facilitate the sharing of information on a campus and between distant campuses Despite the advantages these advances bring, they also make campus networks more vulnerable to cyber attacks Institutions therefore face a double-edged threat as budgets and resources remain tight and the sophistication of attacks continually increases In a recent Center for Digital Education (CDE) survey of 139 higher education IT professionals, 36 percent said their campus had been subjected to a malicious code incident in the last year, and expected spam and phishing (70 percent) as well as malware (61 percent) to be principal threats in the year to come.1 And although 86 percent of those respondents rated their institution’s ability to detect and thwart cyber attacks as average or above average, the survey also revealed many of those institutions don’t abide by network security best practices This issue brief examines what campuses should look for in a network security solution that can scale over time to meet the needs of a more digital higher education environment How Big is the Threat? THERE WERE REPORTED DATA BREACHES 562 AT 324 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS BETWEEN 2005 AND 2014 IT PROFESSIONALS SAID THEIR CAMPUS WAS SUBJECTED TO A MALICIOUS CODE INCIDENT IN THE LAST YEAR 36% OF HIGHER EDUCATION 70% EXPECT SPAM AND PHISHING ATTACKS TO BE PRINCIPAL THREATS IN THE NEXT YEAR, AND 61% FEEL THE SAME ABOUT MALWARE Common Network Security Setbacks Cybersecurity ranks near the top of the list of priorities for 73 percent of CDE’s survey respondents, but the survey found actual network security practices fall short due to some common challenges Legacy, siloed systems Outdated legacy systems often found on university campuses are frequently siloed with single-purpose functions layered on as they are needed over time — this is especially true in the realm of security Such configurations are not easily integrated with other systems and are inefficient, making management and updates complicated and costly In fact, 53 percent of CDE survey respondents said incompatible legacy systems were a barrier to more effective cybersecurity Limited budgets Despite the recent economic uptick in the U.S., government entities still have a tight rein on budgets After adjusting for inflation, 48 of the 50 states — Alaska and North Dakota are exceptions — spent less on education in 2014 than before the recession.2 The average state currently spends approximately 23 percent less per student per year than before the economic downturn Such budget constraints parallel the responses of CDE survey respondents who said the leading obstacle (81 percent) preventing them from implementing improved security measures is funding Rapidly advancing networks College networks are evolving and expanding at a rapid rate to accommodate the abundance of devices brought to campuses, video streaming, online courses and advanced research To meet this demand, many campuses are centralizing data centers, moving as much information as possible to the cloud and looking toward 100 Gbps networks in the near future Unfortunately, security often can’t keep pace with these network speeds, leaving networks vulnerable Tuskegee University Boosts Network Security and Performance Combating cyber attacks on campuses today requires new security capabilities and practices Many institutions are turning to encrypted Internet — a practice that can be effective for secure data transfer, but can also sacrifice overall network performance The computing overhead behind wide-scale scanning and encrypting can actually cripple the system and bring the greater network to a crawl — or worse Tuskegee University near Montgomery, Ala., understood this and took a more advanced approach to cybersecurity to protect its nearly 3,200 students and 1,100 faculty and staff Tuskegee’s network deflects up to one million malware and phishing attacks each week, and until recently, this overwhelmed the firewall Chief Information Officer Fred Judkins says, “It brought our network to a crawl The firewall could not handle the threats and volume of traffic.” An Effective Security Strategy College campuses have thousands of users, endpoints and applications active at any given time, so simply installing one-off firewalls, anti-virus software and single-step authentication requirements are no longer enough to make a college network secure To combat network security threats, institutions need an enterprise solution that offers layered protection and can scale over time As institutions upgrade their network security solution, they should look for the following capabilities: • Layered protection, including next-generation firewalls and intrusion prevention, remote access control, Web and email gateway filtering, and identity and access management • A vendor that offers threat intelligence and a defense network that constantly collects and analyzes new threats, building counter-measures that are deployed in real time • Performance that can scale as the network environment grows via a multicore solution that can scan quickly at a high throughput The network slowdown impacted both faculty and students, because instructors couldn’t download class materials In addition, the IT team could not keep up with the weekly software updates necessary for the 1,100 lab computers or the proliferation of student mobile devices “It would take 10 minutes to push out one simple change to an IP address,” says Judkins “We cannot wait that long.” The university ultimately implemented a next-generation network solution that heightened security, facilitated cross-platform mobility and revved up network performance “We have the ability to remotely and granularly designate what firewalls users can get to, what rules they can change and what they can see,” says Judkins “Our university president can view network traffic in real time We can set up automatic reports to be sent via email.” By consolidating network and mail filtering on the firewall, the university is saving up to $100,000 each year “It is unbelievably fast and simple,” says Judkins.3 • Centralized and simple management — with automatic monitoring and reporting — that eases maintenance and frees staff to focus on initiatives that help improve student outcomes Conclusion: Combating the Threat There were 562 reported data breaches at 324 higher education institutions between 2005 and 2014, according to an EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) report.4 For higher education institutions, breaches can negatively impact the learning environment, cost a staggering amount of money and even present a legal liability Increasingly, institutions realize the importance of an advanced network security solution Fifty-five percent of CDE survey respondents say they plan to invest more in network security over the next 12 months Directing this spending on an enterprise, layered approach to network security with an emphasis on efficacy, performance and cost efficiency will help ensure campuses are truly prepared for a technology-rich — and threat-filled — future Endnotes Center for Digital Education Network Security Survey, May 2015 http://www.cbpp.org/research/states-are-still-funding-higher-education-below-pre-recession-levels http://software.dell.com/documents/tuskegee-university-casestudy-29646.pdf https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ECP1402.pdf Underwritten by: Dell empowers countries, communities, customers and people everywhere to use technology to realize their dreams Customers trust us to deliver technology solutions that help them and achieve more, whether they’re at home, work, school or anywhere in their world For more information, visit http://software.dell.com/solutions/next-generation-firewall/ © 2015 e.Republic All rights reserved Wo r ks ma r t e r AtI ns i ght , we’ l lhel pyous ol vec hal l engesandi mpr ove per f or manc ewi t hi nt el l i gentt ec hnol ogys ol ut i ons Lear nmor e