Time to Assess and Tackle the Increasingly Sophisticated Cyberthreats for Universities
As cyberspace becomes increasingly sophisticated and complex, so do the security threats that come with it.
October is global cybersecurity awareness month and this year much of the focus is on the emerging threats to security from technological advances and what institutions, and individuals, can do to counter them.
The breakneck speed of AI development and the rise of phishing, deepfakes, and an exponential increase in ransomware attacks, mean institutions and businesses across the globe face an increasing cybersecurity threat, with universities firmly in the firing line.
No wonder that the World Economic Forum concluded in a report published earlier this year ‘we are now in a growing AI arms race’ when it comes to cybercrime.
Universities, with their valuable research data, and trove of personal information on students and staff, have, of course, long been a prime target for cybercriminals and the trend is on an upward trajectory.
In 2025, there was a 23 percent increase in ransomware attacks on universities in the US. Official government statistics for the UK in 2024, show that a staggering 97 percent of HE institutions identified a cyber attack in the past 12 months, with six in ten saying it had a negative impact. It’s worth noting that in the UK, 50 percent of businesses overall experienced an attack in 2024, showing the attractiveness of universities to cybercriminals.
AI and Cybersecurity: Navigating New Challenges in Higher Education
Artificial Intelligence is increasing the volume and impact of cybercrime.
Its development is allowing criminals to more easily instigate large scale and sophisticated phishing campaigns, still the most prevalent means of attack on universities and higher education institutions.
In addition, AI is helping cybercriminals to create increasingly realistic deepfakes, both audio and video, which can dupe staff members into divulging sensitive institutional information.
Ransomware attacks across all sectors are also increasing and becoming more audacious, with an increase in ransom prices and frequency of attacks.
What Can Make Universities Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?
One reason universities are an attractive target for hackers is because they often operate decentralised and fragmented IT systems, where data on students, staff, and finance live in separate ecosystems.
This increases exposure to unmonitored software applications and tends to divert resources away from innovation and security, as day-to-day management of these siloed systems takes precedence. There is also, clearly, more room for error when managing multiple IT networks.
Many universities face a significant skill gap in cybersecurity, lacking staff with the necessary expertise to manage security operations and monitor threat intelligence effectively. This gap makes it challenging to implement critical safeguards such as zero-trust architectures, enforce multi-factor authentication across systems, apply timely patches, and secure immutable backups—each of which is essential for robust ransomware protection.
Cyber criminals also understand that more often than not higher education has underfunded security programmes. They demand a ransom for the institution to get its data back, knowing that they may pay to avoid further delays or reputational damage.
CIOs: Promoting a Security-First Campus Culture
The role of the university Chief Information Officer is an ever evolving one. They are no longer simply technology stewards; they now have to be strategic risk leaders and wear many hats. It’s never been more important for them to act collaboratively with colleagues than in today’s environment.
The CIO needs to work cross-functionally with legal and compliance teams, take a lead role in prioritising security and advocating for funding, and be the key person in promoting a security first mindset across the campus.
The appointment of cybersecurity champions across campuses and within faculties at universities is a simple, but effective way of spreading awareness. Focusing on specific threats, such as phishing, and generating knowledge around it, such as how to spot suspicious emails and what to do when you get one, is a good way of creating and maintaining a security-first culture. The CIO plays a key role in driving this push for cybersecurity awareness.
A series of cybersecurity events can be planned across an institution to drive engagement with cybersecurity awareness month, deepening an institutional culture among staff students and faculties, which is alert to the threat of cybercriminals. These can take the form of workshops, lectures or town-hall meetings. Whatever tactics are decided upon, the aim should be to deepen knowledge of existing and emerging cybercrime practices and how they can be countered.
What Steps Can Universities Take to Mitigate Cybersecurity risks?
Moving away from the siloed, decentralised IT systems that many universities rely on, towards a modern IT infrastructure is also a key component in combating the increasingly sophisticated cybercrime threat.
Modern IT systems enable real-time threat detection and response, as well having centralised logging and monitoring capabilities. They provide built-in security controls like encryption and make it easier to standardise security across the entire IT ecosystem.
These systems support scalable security controls, meaning policies, and configurations can be applied globally, rather than doing it on a server-by-server basis.
A modern system frees up IT staff resourcing to focus less on the day-to-day functionality of the IT environment and allows more time to concentrate on innovation and security.
How Does the Ellucian SaaS Platform Help with Cybersecurity?
Ellucian has years of experience helping higher education providers to keep their data secure and confidential.
SaaS offers speedier installation time, better scalability and significantly reduced maintenance costs, compared to traditional models.
Specifically, in relation to data security, SaaS systems use encryption both when data is being transmitted and when it is at rest and continuously monitors threats in real time. SaaS also utilises multi-factor authentication and has robust and strict identity management access protocols.
The SaaS model offers institutions an ability to benefit from increased investment in cutting-edge technical innovation and maintenance, especially in crucial areas such as data security.
The Ellucian SaaS platform reduces reliance on legacy systems that are harder to secure and maintain, and offers:
- Security by design – with our SaaS model you get built-in security controls, built-in disaster recovery, continuous updates, and patching and compliance support.
- Data insights that are centralised and modern analytics for better decision making and risk visibility.
- Continuous innovation – regular enhancements that are aligned with industry trends and current threats, faster deployment of security patches and updates and built-in resilience and scalability.
Learn how Ellucian’s technology and expertise can support cybersecurity in your university.
