6 core tips for data security in educational institutions

Why data security in education is important?

Educational institutions are increasingly relying on software solutions to streamline administrative tasks, enhance teaching methodologies, and improve communication among teachers and students. The importance of data security in schools and universities cannot be overstated, as these institutions handle a wealth of sensitive information, including student records, financial data, and confidential research. A breach in data security not only jeopardizes the privacy of students, staff, and faculty but also has far-reaching legal, financial, and reputational implications for the institution as a whole.

Recent instances of cyberattacks on educational institutions have underscored the criticality of implementing stringent data security measures. From high-profile breaches that compromised student personal information to ransomware attacks that disrupted operations, the vulnerabilities in educational systems have attracted the attention of malicious actors seeking to exploit weaknesses in software infrastructures. To address this escalating concern, educational institutions must be proactive in selecting and implementing the right software solutions that prioritize data security without compromising functionality.

Below, we listed the software essentials for data security in education that you can use as a checklist to ensure the safety of valuable information throughout your infrastructure.

1. Host software on-premises, if you can

Hosting software on-premises, within the confines of the educational institution’s own physical infrastructure, can offer several advantages in terms of data security. This approach provides the institution with greater control over its data and the technology environment, allowing for more tailored security measures and reduced exposure to external threats.

When using self-hosted software, you can determine where and how data is stored, processed, and accessed. This control minimizes the reliance on third-party vendors and sharing of the data to third-parties, and reduces the risk of data being stored in locations that may be outside the institution’s regulatory compliance boundaries. Separation from the public internet also hides the attack surface and limits the potential avenues for hackers to exploit.

Moreover, on-premises hosting enables institutions to implement security measures that are tailored to their specific needs or required by the regulatory policies. They can design and configure firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption protocols according to their own security policies and industry best practices.

However, it’s important to note that hosting software on-premises also comes with its own challenges and considerations. Educational institutions need to invest in the IT infrastructure, staff expertise, maintenance, and updates. They must also ensure the physical security of the data center.

2. Use encryption to protect sensitive information

Encryption is a vital safeguard for educational institutions, protecting sensitive data by ensuring only authorized individuals can access and comprehend it. It facilitates compliance with regulations, minimizes breach consequences, secures data sharing, reduces insider threats, shields research, enhances mobile and remote access security, fortifies cloud usage, defends against ransomware, maintains reputation, and provides enduring data protection.

The specific types of encryption to be employed will depend on the organization’s needs, the nature of the data being handled, regulatory requirements, and the technological infrastructure in place. Implementing a combination of these encryption methods will help ensure a robust and multi-layered defense against potential data breaches and unauthorized access.

Three main encryption methods that are essential to implement are encryption at rest and in transit, and end-to-end encryption:

• Data at Rest Encryption: Encrypting data stored on physical devices such as servers, databases, and storage systems. This prevents unauthorized access if hardware is lost, stolen, or compromised.
• Data in Transit Encryption: Encrypting data as it travels across networks, ensuring that information remains confidential and secure during transmission, particularly when accessed remotely or through cloud services.
• End-to-End Encryption: Ensuring data remains encrypted from the moment it’s generated until it’s accessed by authorized recipients, minimizing exposure to potential interceptors.

Approach to encryption encompasses a variety of other methods that are worth implementing in the organization’s security policy. Among them, file-level and Database Encryption safeguard files and databases, while Application-Level Encryption secures data within specific software like an office suite or a mail system. Some of more advanced security systems also use tokenization of data, homomorphic encryption that enables secure computation, and public key infrastructures for secure communication.

3. Prioritize strong authentication measures

By implementing stringent authentication measures, educational organizations not only protect their valuable assets but also uphold their commitment to data security, regulatory compliance, and the overall well-being of their academic community.

Most of the learning management systems and sharing platforms offer multi-factor or two-factor authentication, and support SSO (Single-Sign-On) systems that you can use for reliable verification of users. 2FA apps that are very user-friendly and easy to administrate are Google Authenticator and Authy. Notable examples of SSO services are OneLogin, LastPass, and Shibboleth.

Another policy that should be implemented on the system admin level is password criteria, to allow only secure, complex passwords for log-in that are hard to crack with brute force computation or guess.

While those are the bare minimum of authentication control measures you should keep in mind, there are more elaborate settings and mechanics that popular software provides to help you keep your data safe from breaches.

4. Perform regular data backups

Backups not only protect you from data loss occurring due to server interruptions or human errors, but also make sure you have a proper of dealing with ransomware and cyber threats.

Educational organizations have increasingly become targets of ransomware attacks, where cybercriminals encrypt data and demand payment for its release, which causes unaffordable interruption of performance apart from the financial threat it directly imposes. Having up-to-date backups allows institutions to recover data without yielding to extortion demands, safeguarding their finances and preserving the integrity of their information.

5. Check how software handles your data

When an organization chooses a software to entrust its data to, there are several crucial aspects they need to understand about how the software handles their data to ensure security, compliance, and overall operational effectiveness:

• Data storage and location
• Implemented data encryption methods
• Data access and authentication measures
• Options for data sharing and permissions
• Backups and recovery
• Data retention policies offered by a provider
• Data portability, or if and how you can export and transfer your assets
• Vendor security practices
• Compliance with privacy standards defined by industry and location
• Data audit and monitoring
• Updates and responses to critical vulnerabilities

6. Organize security training for employees and students

Organizing cybersecurity training for employees and students in an educational organization is essential to create a culture of awareness, responsibility, and vigilance against cyber threats. By educating individuals about cybersecurity best practices and potential risks, the organization can significantly enhance its overall data security posture, in addition to measures implemented on the IT administration level.

Organize a customized curriculum tailored to organization’s unique needs (e.g. password security, email safety, safe browsing, social media risks, secure file sharing) and choose from a variety of formats to train your users: workshops, online modules, videos, webinars, and interactive simulations, to engage different learning styles.

It might be a great idea to organize singular or regular guest events, inviting speakers and experts to share insights, experiences, and best practices, enriching your training content.

Finally, provide resources such as tip sheets, infographics, and reference materials that individuals can access and refer to after training.

Start with the right software

ONLYOFFICE solutions are powerful open-source tools for collaboration in education that let you streamline the educational process while keeping your data safe.

With the ability to host ONLYOFFICE solutions on-premises and effortlessly administrate built-in encryption, monitoring, backup, and authentication tools, bigger part of work is already off your shoulders.

Integrate ONLYOFFICE Docs suite into a learning management system (Moodle, Chamilo, and others) or sharing platform of your choice (Nextcloud, ownCloud, SeaFile, and others), or use a complete ONLYOFFICE DocSpace cloud to organize collaboration and education in customizable rooms.