Indian educational institutions and online platforms have now become a major target for cyberthreats, according to a report compiled by the Threat Research and Information Analytics Division of CloudSEK — a Singapore-based AI-driven digital risk management enterprise (highlighted by PTI).
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Based on the report, out of total targeted threats, 58 percent were aimed at India/ India-based institutions, followed by the USA, UK, Indonesia and Brazil. In India, major attacks were seen on BYJU’s, IIM Kozhikode, as well as Tamil Nadu’s Directorate of Technical Education.
In the US specifically, they saw 19 recorded incidents which accounted for 86 percent of threats in the North American region alone and involved ransomware attacks on institutions such as Howard University in Washington DC as well as UCLA.
This rise in cyber attacks on educational institutions is partly due to the massive spike in remote learning caused due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, where more novice internet users are lured to get trapped.
Based on report findings, cybercriminals that are breaching these institutions are actively also leaking databases, accesses, vulnerabilities, and exploits among other confidential information belonging to the institution on the dark web.
This also includes personally identifiable information about students and their families.
Reuters
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Researchers call for educational institutions to improve their cybersecurity as well as ask them to conduct awareness among the staff and students to be prepared to ward off cyber threats. They also ask institutions to block illegitimate IP addresses as well as deactivate port forwarding using network firewalls.
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