Universities, Beware of Data Breaches!
The Education Cybersecurity Weekly is a curated weekly news overview for those who are concerned about Education industry. It provides brief summaries and links to articles and news across a spectrum of cybersecurity and technology topics that are specific to the industry.
Yale discloses old data breach
ZDNet on August 1, 2018
Some security incidents take weeks, months and even years to be disclosed, but that is even not a low-water mark. Yale University has learned about a security breach that took place a decade ago. According to the officials, data intrusion occurred between 2008 and 2009 and affected about 119,000 individuals. The breacher managed to access names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. Some of the exposed records also contained Yale email addresses and physical addresses. There is no evidence any financial information has been compromised.
Ironically, the university did not find out about a breach even when personal information was deleted from the university’s database as part of a new data protection policy in 2011.
Do not overestimate cyber-readiness
TES on August 6, 2018
Jisc, a digital services provider for the FE and HE sector, has conducted a survey among colleges and universities. The research aimed to estimate organizations’ assumed level of protection from cybersecurity incidents. Colleges gave themselves 7.1 out of 10 for cyber protection level on an average.
We are concerned that this optimistic score could be due to the lack of security specialists working in the FE sector, leaving colleges in the dark.
John Chapman, the head of Jisc’s security operations center.
Chapman supposed that colleges appeared to be too optimistic about the possible risks. Still, according to Jisc, in 2017, a quarter of colleges experienced a DDoS attack. And taking into consideration previous years’ statistic, the number of victim colleges and the frequency of security incidents are rising. At the same time, universities gave themselves a mean score of 5.9, which is closer to reality.
Digital tools for Gen Z students
Education Dive on August 7, 2018
So-called Gen Z students hardly imagine their lives without modern technologies and have a number of peculiarities when speaking about the process of learning. Students born between 1995 and 2012 are not keen on reading, closely tied to social media, and, what is more important, want to be treated as individuals. The use of digital techniques including social media is sharply increasing nowadays when working with a new generation of students. Such methods are supposed to help students feel less isolated and comfort the educative process.
In this situation, colleges need to understand current needs and demands for modern personal, academic, and career path concerns.
Illinois provides gifted and talented with accommodations
Education Dive on August 7, 2018
Programs aimed at gifted students have always faced the lack of support due to the widespread preconception that really talented students do not need any extra conditions and options to achieve success. At the same time, public schools sometimes cannot serve all the needs of bright students reducing their future opportunities.
However, as of July 2018, in accordance with the Accelerated Placement Act, Illinois schools have been required to use systems in order to identify academically gifted pupils and provide them with special academic conditions.
Several districts have already planned to provide gifted children with early admission to kindergarten and first grade, and now, according to the law, all districts are required to have board-approved plans. Educational organizations also have to structure a system for students who want to skip a grade.
Also, when estimating a child’s readiness to enter kindergarten earlier, it is essential to analyze both academic ability and social-emotional state. Maturity level can simply be inappropriate for early kindergarten entry and lead to stress.