As shocking as it may seem, educational institutions are those that have the lowest level of cybersecurity for the safeguarding of their data. An inconceivable aspect, due to the type of information they have on both students and parents. Fortunately, there are modern alternatives such as educational software to centralize such information and shield it adequately.
It is important not to overlook data protection issues for schools, as sensitive data such as the following is handled:
- Health
- Academics
- Psychological
- Financial
- Personal and professional
- Sensitive Data
In view of this, it is essential to have educational software to improve the cybersecurity of schools and thus assure both students and their parents that the information they provide will be used correctly and that no one will misuse it.
It is really important for schools to raise their awareness of data protection, otherwise they may be affected both internally and externally, both of which could severely damage their reputation and finances by being forced to pay fines or penalties.
So we'll take a closer look at what they might be currently overlooking and how they can fix it.
How important is cybersecurity for schools?
Today more than ever, cybersecurity in schools must be very high, as it is the way in which educational institutions can take care of and safeguard their main asset: the data.
In addition, in view of the Law 1851 of the Personal Data Protection Law in Colombia, schools must ensure that sensitive data (mostly of minors) stored in their systems are well protected in Colombia, schools must ensure that sensitive data (mostly of minors) stored in their systems are well protected and thus avoid fines or sanctions.
In the day-to-day running of a school, teachers and administrators often handle attendance lists, grades or psycho-pedagogical data that are not adequately safeguarded, as they are printed or stored in simple spreadsheets.
Therefore, it is necessary to understand the importance of cybersecurity for these types of academic entities and to highlight why an educational software is the best solution they can incorporate.
What are the most common cybersecurity threats facing schools?
The main threats to a school's cybersecurity are the lack of knowledge of the subject and the current availability of tools with which a system can be breached.
Among the main ones are social hacking and DoS or malware attacks, which intruders use to get what they want: data.
Specifically, social hacking attempts to manipulate the results of social behavior through orchestrated actions; its general function is to gain access to restricted information.
These types of attacks are very common in schools and there have even been known cases such as the one in March 2019, where some students were accused of hacking a school information platform in order to change their grades and improve their attendance records.
This implies that that a school can be violated even by its own students.. Young people are curious and nowadays they have much more technological tools and knowledge about cybersecurity.
While their reasons for breaching the security barrier of their institutions may be "innocent," the impact to the reputation of the schools is very great. impact to the reputation of the schools is very great..
In addition, nowadays there is more and more family and social awareness about data protection, so that the theft or modification of information by a student or any other external user not only makes the school look vulnerable, but can also lead to lawsuits by parents or even be punished by law.
Tips for a school to increase its level of cybersecurity
The data of a school should be a shared responsibility where the directors and the systems area are the main protagonists. However, each person in charge of a certain department must also secure the data under his or her responsibility.
For example, teachers must safeguard their grade records, while the finance department must safeguard the handling of money and the admissions and registration department must safeguard the personal and sensitive data of staff, students and parents.
However, there is not always agreement or good communication between the areas, which can lead to the security of the institutions being neglected.
Currently, there is a set of good practices that the systems area can implement in the institution. Among them are:
- Conduct a socialization and awareness campaign on the importance of information management.
- Ensure that the institution's critical processes are carried out under the same platform, such as academic planning, registration and consultation of grades/grades, invoicing, collections, portfolio, communications, among others.
The latter entails a necessary digitization in which all data belonging to an educational entity is securely stored on the same platform, such as an educational software. educational software.
How does educational software help schools strengthen their cybersecurity?
While many schools today may have different types of digital solutions in place, these are often not integrated, as they do not cover all the needs that must be addressed to ensure data protection.
For this reason, an educational software such as Phidias is the most complete solution, as it can provide a correct management of information in the educational community.
In context with all the healthy practices highlighted above, Phidias has special tools to carry them out, including the following:
- Two-step authentication.
- Use of Single Sign On by Google Office 365.
- Options to configure passwords in different levels: weak, medium or strong.
- Remember to change passwords periodically.
- Assignment of roles and permissions, so that each user only has access to the information that corresponds to him/her and thus avoid the inappropriate use of information that may affect the educational community.
Best of all, if a user is trying to be breached, the platform notifies the user by e-mail and if the situation persists, the user being breached is automatically blocked.
In addition to this, Phidias Phidias educational software is in the cloud with Amazon's infrastructure, which provides robust support for the school. robust support for the school. It also has security certificates that provide peace of mind to the school and users.
For more detailed information on Phidias Phidias modules and the other tools and solutions offered by this educational softwarewe invite you to contact us.
