Cybersecurity Threats in Education
These numbers come from official statistics of the UK’s Department for Science, Innovation &Technology. The same report also discusses the types of breaches or attacks for each education institution. Namely, higher education institutions were the ones with the bigger likelihood of being affected, with 43% of these having had a breach or attack as frequently as once a week. Further education colleges were next in line (32%). Also, 33% of higher education institutions reported the use of their accounts and systems being compromised and utilized for illegal purposes.
In an age in which remote learning environments are becoming a popular (and extremely useful), tool for education institutions, putting the right security measures in place is paramount.
The Role of Remote Access Software in Enhancing Security
Remote access is a great tool for real-time collaboration in education. It can also help bridge gaps in education, not to mention increase educational accessibility. However, not using a solution that keeps data away from the wrong hands can be dangerous.
Flexibility and Accessibility vs. Security Features
Our previous articles in this Education series talk about all the ways in which remote access software can help educators and school staff, like the three mentioned below:
- Helping students access educational resources from anywhere.
- Educators can share their screen with them and demonstrate the lesson with ease. Not only that; the students can easily interact with the machine.
- They can perform tasks themselves for the teacher, ensuring that they understood.
And these are just three of the many, many examples.
However, in a field like education, the learning experience needs to be protected by robust security features. Remote access is like giving the key to your house – and you wouldn’t just leave them where anyone can use them, would you? Sensitive personal information could be at risk but, with the right remote access solution, you can rest assured that the chances of that are extremely slim. It needs to be a solution that puts security ahead of everything else, keeping everyone involved secure.
RealVNC Connect: Secure Education Remote Access
RealVNC Connect offers the Education sector all the security features it needs. And it doesn’t just claim to be secure; it can also prove it.
First of all, it’s certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2013 and Cyber Essentials and complies with GDPR, and CCPA, ensuring adherence to stringent data protection and privacy guidelines. Its security is also certified by regular penetration tests and white box security audits.
As RealVNC Connect is built by putting security first, it adheres to four essential security principles:
- You don’t have to trust RealVNC as a company to trust our software and services
- We do not record your sessions, and data cannot be decrypted now or in the future
- Every connection is treated as though it is made in a hostile environment
- The owner of the remote computer ultimately decides who can connect
In order to keep everything as secure as possible, you can also set granular access permissions. This allows you to decide who has access to what machines. For example, students in a certain year can only access their teacher’s class machines.
All the data is encrypted, and not even RealVNC could decrypt it, and sessions are never recorded (unless the teacher or students want it, for future reference).
If you plan on only using the solution on the school network, you can deploy it on-premise, without data ever leaving said network.
Also, the software uses two-factor authentication by default for account access. This ensures that your account is secure even if someone gets their hands on your account credentials – email address and password. You can also set up time-based one-time password authentication; this can be enforced for your entire RealVNC Connect Team.
These are just some of the features that RealVNC’s software includes to keep your data secure, but make sure you take a look at the RealVNC security page to find out more.
Best Practices for Data Security
Remote access security is extremely important, but there are also other aspects you should keep an eye on. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but these are three things that you should have covered.
- Regular Security Audits – make sure that your organization has security audits at regular intervals, and that it acts to solve any problems found.
- Educate and Train – Make sure that both staff and students have regular cybersecurity training. They should be constantly reminded about things such as password hygiene, or how to avoid phishing attempts.
- Patched Systems – make sure all software is kept up to date, in order to avoid any potential vulnerabilities.
Conclusion
Staying vigilant, as well as using a remote access solution that keeps your organization secure, is essential for any educational organization. But you don’t have to take our word for what RealVNC Connect can do! Get a free trial now and see for yourself!