University Business - May 2008 - (Page 29)

VIEWPOINT The .EDU Challenge Moving beyond technology in maintaining a secure network By Randy Abrams T IS NO SECRET THAT EDU cational institutions are bearing the brunt of today’s malicious software attacks. Bot-infected computers are rampant in the educational space, especially in colleges and universities where academic freedom often translates to unmanaged computers on a fairly wide-open network. Recently, the landscape has been changing. Information technology workers at higher ed institutions have increasingly been able to convince decision makers that controls and restrictions must be put in place. Many IHEs are implementing a variety of security technologies, including antivirus software, network access or authentication control, quarantine systems, network segmentation, and other technologies to help secure their networks. The technologies have their place and go a long way toward mitigating the problem. However, technology is not the source of the problem and therefore won’t be the ultimate solution. Computer crimes—viruses, trojans, and other social engineering attacks— are a social problem. We have yet to find a technological cure for social problems. Without education, the efforts of technology are largely going unsupported. CURRICULUM GAPS From a motivational standpoint, the attacks we see today are virtually identical to crimes perpetrated when the slide rule (the mechanical analog computer) was king. The computer simply introduces automation and removal of personal contact. These two factors have dynamically changed our society, yet our educational I In the internet age, a victim of fraud is an unseen, unknown, dehumanized entity. system has not evolved to teach the skills required to live in this evolved society. Teaching technology is not the same as teaching the psychological underpinnings of a dramatically changed society. Back when committing fraud involved personal contact, the perpetrator could see the victim. Often the heart won over the mind, and crimes of opportunity were abandoned because actually seeing a victim allowed the conscience to intervene. In the internet age, the victim is an unseen, unknown, dehumanized entity. The scale of social attacks in the pre-internet days was relatively small enough that dedicated courses on social engineering attacks were not worth investing in. The attacks existed in a plethora of forms but were not as prevalent as they are today. Not enough people were victims to warrant society’s investing in public education courses to protect against such menaces. The internet has largely sidelined the conscience, especially in areas where extreme poverty results in higher levels of physical crime, which, with the decline in the costs of computers, can now be replaced with less risky cybercrime. The age of computers has exponentially raised the number of potential victims as well. Today, social engineering is the primary facilitator of digital attacks, yet there is virtually no curriculum that teaches us to manage the risks that come with it. If we want secure networks, we need to begin teaching security—with a focus on social engineering—in elementary school. Therein lays the catch-22. Who is to teach tomorrow’s teachers if today’s teachers have not been educated? The answer is not pretty. Educational institutions need to begin teaching both fundamental computer security as well as the conceptual basis of social engineering attacks to all students using the computers and the network. Each and every technological solution can and will be beaten by socially engineered attacks. When colleges and universities graduate teachers equipped to teach life skills in the 21st century, then the next generation can begin to be protected and teach the skills required to protect against today’s threats. Eventually someone must type out a curriculum! Randy Abrams, a passionate security evangelist, is the director of technical education at the antivirus software and security solutions firm ESET. His ThreatBlog can be found at www.eset.com /threat-center/blog. universitybusiness.com May 2008 | 29 http://www.eset.com/threat-center/blog http://www.eset.com/threat-center/blog http://www.eset.com/threat-center/blog http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2008

University Business - May 2008
Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
People Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Financial Aid
Human Resources
Community Colleges
Art Appreciation
HR Directors Speak Out
Marketing: The Big Questions Answered
Top 5 Reasons You Should Attend EduComm 2008
What's New
Calendar of Events
End Note

University Business - May 2008

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