Security

Report: Ed Sector Leading Target of Malware Events

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 06/23/15

More than one third of all malware events in 2014 happened within the education sector, according to NTT Com Security's 2015 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR).

The report, which analyzed more than 6 billion attacks for trends, points to the rise of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs. "[C]onnecting large amounts of users to public networks through a variety of devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones), cyber criminals know to target this vulnerable audience segment, resulting in this sector having the most detected malware-related events," according to a news release. "Students and staff use these vulnerable networks to check grades, schedule meetings, log into financial assets and more, opening up their personally identifiable information to criminals."

"The history of open networks at education institutes has resulted in network architectures where there is usually no strong separation between areas containing sensitive data and untrusted areas where professors, students or visitors can connect," said Chris Camejo, director of assessment services for NTT Com Security U.S., in a prepared statement. "This makes it more difficult to prevent, detect and respond to attacks. IT officials must develop a strategy that is custom to the BYOD culture that they have embraced."

The full report is available at nttsecurity.com.