With a high turnover rate of students and employees, housing important research and vast amounts of sensitive data collected daily, educational institutions are an attractive target for cybercriminals. With that, educational institutes also have one of the highest rates of data breaches caused by human error, with the total average cost of a data breach in the education sector reaching a substantial number. The reasons for it are multiple.
Students are more likely to be careless when using a school computer or be unaware of security best practices. They also connect countless personal devices to school networks. Another big challenge is the way cybersecurity is funded and implemented in educational institutions. Teams are often understaffed and may lack the expertise to develop a complex cybersecurity framework.
Filip Cotfas, Channel Manager, Cososys said "Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions have become an indispensable part of educational institutions’ efforts to curb data breaches. Applying policies that protect sensitive data directly, DLP tools allow educational institutions to monitor and control how information travels in and out of their networks."
Factors leading to data loss in the education sector are plenty; most of which occur due to human error caused by the overload of data that they possess. DLP solutions allow educational institutions to monitor and control the sensitive data they collect through predefined and customizable policies for personal information, financial data and other categories of sensitive data. Additionally, DLP solutions allow organizations to block USB and peripheral ports and Bluetooth completely through Device Control features preventing data loss by malicious outsiders or unknowingly by individuals whose removable devices have been infected.