Check Point Software Technologies and channel partner Westcon-Comstor Southern Africa joined forces for a seminar aimed at boosting South African tertiary education institutions’ cyber security resilience.
“Schools and universities, with their treasure troves of sensitive data and often insufficient cyber security measures, have become prime targets for cybercriminals,” says Lionel Dartnall, Check Point Software’s acting country manager: South Africa.
“As our educational landscape embraces digital transformation, so the need for effective cybersecurity measures has dramatically increased,” he adds.
The education sector has been the most targeted globally for cyberattacks in 2024, with an average of 3,086 attacks per organisation each week, according to Check Point Research.
Cyberattacks on the Education sector increased by 37% compared to last year, surpassing even the Government and Military sectors. In October 2024, South Africa’s Education and Research sector faced 1729 weekly attacks per organisation, compared to an average of 2 875 attacks per week on African institutions according to Check Point.Check Point also observed 12 234 new domains created related to schools and education, marking a 9% increase YoY. Among these, one in every 45 domains were found to be malicious or suspicious.
“Educational institutions are prime targets for cyberattacks due to the vast amount of sensitive data they store, including personal information of students, faculty, and staff, as well as academic records, research, and intellectual property,” says Aveshan Aiyer, channel manager at Westcon-Comstor Southern Africa.
“With their large, often open networks and a wealth of critical data, universities and colleges are increasingly vulnerable to exploitation, whether for financial gain, intellectual property theft, or other malicious purposes.”
In addition to these risks, students and staff frequently connect to unsecured networks, such as public WiFi, and use personal devices that may not be properly protected. This increases vulnerabilities, making educational institutions even more susceptible to breaches. The consequences of such breaches can be severe – jeopardising student safety, damaging institutional reputation, and undermining academic integrity. Moreover, they can disrupt day-to-day operations and erode trust in digital systems.
“We identified the need for this seminar after many tertiary institutions shared similar, significant cybersecurity challenges,” Aiyer explains. “By bringing together security leadership from across the sector, we aim to address these common concerns, share insights, and explore solutions that will help mitigate the risks these institutions face.”
Aiyer stresses that raising awareness within the cybersecurity leadership of tertiary institutions is crucial. “The seminar provides a platform to discuss the evolving threat landscape and equip security teams with the knowledge and tools to safeguard their organizations against these ever-growing cyber risks.”
Dartnall says that South Africa’s higher education experience is much like India’s, with both countries rapidly adopting digital and hybrid learning due to the pressures of COVID as well as the convenience and affordability of online and distance learning.
India is the most targeted country in the Education/Research sector, with 6 874 weekly attacks per organisation, representing a 97% YoY increase, according to Check Point.
It appears to experience the most attacks mainly due to the rapid adoption of remote learning fueled by the Covid lockdowns and the ongoing digitisation of education, which have created lucrative opportunities for cybercriminals seeking to steal personally identifiable information (PII) to sell on the Dark Web.
“The rise of online learning platforms has increased cyber risks, as schools and universities often neglect cybersecurity, making their networks vulnerable. Involving diverse groups like students, teachers, parents, and professionals creates more weak spots for malware and unauthorized access to sensitive data,” says Dartnall.
Other aspects affecting the cyber security landscape in education are:
- Ransomware Evolution: Ransomware attacks exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities have surged, affecting thousands in a single attack. With over 5 000 victims in 2023 – a 90% increase from 2022 – ransomware is now the top threat from financially motivated attackers.
- Expanding Attack Surface: Attacks on routers, VPNs and edge devices are increasing, shifting from nation-state actors to financial attackers, highlighting the need for stronger protection.
- State-Affiliated Hacktivism: Nation-states carry out cyberattacks by posing as hacktivists or using affiliated groups.
- Cloud Vulnerabilities: Attackers bypass security by using stolen session tokens to access cloud and remote systems.
- Software Supply Chain Risks: Malicious software packages in open-source repositories are rising, endangering software supply chains.