Higher Education's Most Wanted Data
Universities are a hotbed of target-rich, personally identifiable information. The initial concern might be with student records, but given that most universities are a home away from home for their adult students, there’s more than just academic information on the line.
Chris Schrader, CVTC’s user services system administrator, says his team is already focused on keeping student records in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. “But then we also have a clinic that operates out of one of our campuses,” he says. “So, we have medical records and other data that we have to keep safe.”
Colleges with technology programs have an additionally unique challenge that most organizations don’t have to deal with: encouraging hacking or tinkering in the name of education.
“Students and teachers frequently need to do things for educational purposes that you wouldn’t see done in a highly secure corporate environment,” Schrader notes, such as using virtual machines to download and study malware.