SHARE
Posted January 30, 2018
Pencils down: it’s spring break. Your students, faculty, and staff are likely hitting the beach and taking some well-deserved time off from the rigors of academia. Cybercriminals, on the other hand, still have their noses to the grindstone. They’re working hard to infiltrate your campus. Are you working hard to stop them?
While your students might say “What happened on spring break stays on spring break,” that won’t (and can’t) be your motto if your campus and its information are targeted by cybercriminals. Your institution owns and controls massive quantities of data, including proprietary academic or scientific research, payment information, medical records, and the personally identifiable information of your faculty, staff, students, research subjects, and others. The steps you’re taking (or, more importantly, not taking) to secure and protect this data are critical to maintaining trust and avoiding costly penalties.
While your students might say “What happened on spring break stays on spring break,” that won’t (and can’t) be your motto if your campus and its information are targeted by cybercriminals.
Information Security is the number one issue within higher education IT this year, according to a 2018 report from EDUCAUSE. (This is also the third year in a row that Information Security has ranked #1.) Knowing this, it may be wise to use some of the free time afforded to you by spring break to think about your cybersecurity program and its effectiveness. Is there room for improvement? Here are some ways to graduate your cybersecurity initiatives to the next level:
You’ve probably seen media coverage about big corporations that have been hacked or breached, but the business sector isn’t the only one targeted by cybercriminals. Higher education is also an appealing and often profitable mark for ransomware, phishing, and other cyberattacks. Unfortunately, far too many cybersecurity policies in higher education boil down to closing the door after the horse has already left the barn. The data has been compromised or stolen. The damage is done. When it comes to preparing for these attacks in advance, countless institutions of higher education receive a failing grade.
In today’s digital environment, it’s not if you’ll be attacked – it’s when. Mitigating risk upfront before you experience a cyberattack limits the possible damage and also helps you learn about existing threats to keep an eye on for the future. Introducing complex deterrents makes your institution a less attractive target as the adage “time is money” applies to cybercriminals, too. A robust cybersecurity program may not stop cyberattacks completely, but it will slow attackers down and make them think twice about whether it is worth their time to target your institution.
When it comes to your cybersecurity program, ask yourself three questions: Are you doing the right things? Are you doing enough of the right things? Are you doing them in the right order? Spending a ton of money on the latest technology doesn’t necessarily mean that you are protected. By conducting a risk assessment, you will be able to determine if your cybersecurity investments will protect your institution (and your job), prove the ROI of your investments, and ensure that the money you spend targets the most critical areas first instead of the low-hanging fruit that may address only menial risks. Risk assessments differ from organization to organization, but in general, they will all identify, prioritize, and measure your cybersecurity risk. (Need help “doing your homework”? Learn more about risk assessments.)
Your faculty is brilliant. Your students are the minds of the future. Your staff is trustworthy. And yet, it’s likely that a hack or other cybersecurity incident will be traced back to one of them. Securing your technology is one thing, but a critical piece of cybersecurity has to do with educating your campus population on policies and procedures that should guide their behaviors. (Pop quiz: how many members of your faculty and staff actually know that you have policies in the first place?) Anyone that works or lives on a higher education campus knows that they are hubs of activity. Whether it’s people rushing from building to building or trying to cram “just one more thing” onto their schedule, it’s obvious that the one thing people don’t have is time. Unfortunately, this hustle and bustle too often leads to mistakes – and when it comes to cybersecurity, these mistakes can be costly.
You can address these “human element” errors by developing and implementing an Awareness program that educates your campus and inspires behavioral change. Your program should also teach your campus community to recognize social engineering methods that attackers use to gain access to protected information. This is especially important for higher-level employees that are more likely to be targeted by attackers due to their positions and the information they have access to.
Knowledge is power, but you’ll need to combine your “human element” awareness training with a strong cybersecurity system that takes into account usage policies, access control, data encryption, device inventory, and vulnerabilities, among other considerations. Higher education faces many challenges when working to secure systems and data, especially as the popularity of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) increases and the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to advance. Faculty and students alike will be adopting new technologies on a regular basis and your institution needs a plan for securing those devices. If just one synced device becomes infected, your entire network is at risk. A successful cybersecurity program will help your institution rein in all these “pieces” of strategy and make them work as a cohesive unit.
Technical controls shouldn’t just be the purview of IT. They will require a collaborative effort between a variety of departments, including administration, IT, finance, human resources, and others. Each department within your institution is likely to need its own unique technical controls in addition to the campus-wide restrictions.
A cyberattack isn’t just about the loss of personally identifiable information; it can also have financial, reputational, and operational repercussions for your institution.
In addition to the promise you have made to your faculty, students, and staff to keep their data safe, there are various local, state, and Federal regulations that your institution must comply with, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prevents institutions from disclosing education records or personally identifiable information without written consent, and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), which protects payment information. Higher education institutions must also be in compliance with the Higher Education Act (HEA), Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA 2014), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and others. A cyberattack isn’t just about the loss of personally identifiable information; it can also have financial, reputational, and operational repercussions for your institution. Compliance is key when creating and implementing your cybersecurity policies, procedures, and plans.
Securing the data and resources of a higher education institution requires a multifaceted cybersecurity initiative and it is fundamental for every institution of higher learning to ensure that both sides of the desk are protected. After all that’s done, then maybe it’s time for a stroll on the beach.
Daniel Gibson (CISA, CISSP, MBA, M.S. Cybersecurity) is a Senior Security Specialist at GreyCastle Security. Prior to joining GreyCastle, Daniel has served as the Director of Information Security for the Ayco Company, a Goldman Sachs Company, and in IT Advisory Services at Ernst & Young. Additionally, he has held roles managing information technology and security initiatives in various industries, including healthcare, finance and technology marketing.
His 10 plus years’ experience in IT and cybersecurity, includes extensive experience in risk assessment and management, incident response, HIPAA, ISO 27001/2, NIST 800-53, SOX, GLBA, vendor risk management, contracts, security awareness training, and leading comprehensive enterprise security programs.
Offerings
Industries
Compliance
Copyright © 2023 GreyCastle Security. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2022 GreyCastle Security. All Rights Reserved
Ho Chin is Chief Financial Officer at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Ho leads Finance, HR, IT and Professional Development. As part of the executive leadership team, Ho works to establish the company’s overall strategy and ensure proper execution of the supporting initiatives pertaining to the above areas of responsibility.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Ho led finance and administrative functions at multiple private equity and venture-backed portfolio companies across multiple industries. Ho holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University in Centre County, Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dan Kalil is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Board Chairman at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Dan provides vision, leadership and strategies that drive GreyCastle Security’s position as an industry leader. With an emphasis on customer success, Dan’s profitable growth model leverages a customer-centric business approach that balances employee wellbeing and social responsibility.
Prior to becoming CEO, Dan served as the company’s Chief Strategy Officer, during which he supported multiple acquisitions and helped the organization achieve substantial sales growth. In addition to serving as CEO at GreyCastle Security, Dan continues to hold the position of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Assured information Security (AIS) in Rome, New York, a company he co-founded in 2001.
Over the course of the last 22 years, Dan has been committed to advancing the state of cybersecurity and has played an instrumental role in the identification and development of critical, next-generation cyber capabilities. He has held positions in almost every facet of cybersecurity, beginning as a computer forensic examiner and progressing through the management and executive leadership ranks. In addition to co-founding AIS, Dan has facilitated multiple cybersecurity startups, raised investment capital and has served in various lead and support roles toward the acquisition of five companies in the last eight years.
Dan has a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and a master’s degree in Cybersecurity from Utica College in Utica, New York.
Michael Stamas is an entrepreneur, board member, Vice President and a founder of GreyCastle Security. With more than two decades of experience in the technology sector, Mike pairs his management and business development skills with a deep understanding of cybersecurity. Mike brings a unique brand of risk-based advising to GreyCastle clients and prospects.
Mike holds certifications in numerous security and technology related areas, including the Department of Homeland Security and other security technologies like Symantec, Cisco and Microsoft.
Mike plays an active role in his community and serves as a board member and Vice President of InfraGard Albany as well as an advisory board position with the Capital Region YMCA.
Mike has been recognized for his numerous achievements through various honors including the Albany Business Review’s prestigious 40 Under 40 award.
Dan Maynard serves as GreyCastle Security’s Chief Operating Officer, where he currently leads Sales, Marketing and Legal.
Dan has enjoyed a 30+ year career in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industry, during which time he has held various leadership positions for organizations such as Rochester Tel/RCI, Citizens Communications (Frontier), PAETEC Communications, IntegraOptics, tw telecom/Level3 and Centurylink.
In addition to various voice and data technology platforms, he possesses a strong background in leadership development, sales and marketing leadership, transformational leadership and strategic planning. Dan has a thirst for knowledge and as a committed lifelong learner, he encourages and supports professional development initiatives for his teams and continues his involvement with Vistage International.
Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he was selected as a member of their Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.
When not at work, Dan enjoys traveling, golfing, attending Utica Comets hockey games and relaxing in the Adirondacks on beautiful Canada Lake with family and friends.
Dan Didier is the Vice President of Solutions and board member at GreyCastle Security.
Dan has been a cybersecurity practitioner for more than 20 years and uses his knowledge and experience to develop cybersecurity solutions that ensure readiness and preparedness.
Dan received his bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications from SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica, New York, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a master’s degree in Information Assurance from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.
Our Computer Incident Response Teams (CIRTs) have responded to hundreds of breaches, intrusions, malware infections, thefts, employee investigations, fraud cases and other incidents. Our highly-certified experts have extensive experience in command, coordination and correction of incidents in nearly every industry throughout North America, from local businesses to Fortune 500 international conglomerates.
Francesca LoPorto-Brandow is Director of Culture at GreyCastle Security. In this role, Francesca leads all social responsibility efforts and partnerships and develops effective strategies that promote organizational-wide behaviors and attitudes consistent with a culture of safety, inclusion, teamwork, motivation and high-performance.
Prior to this role, Francesca was Director of People & Culture at GreyCastle and with her leadership, the company’s culture has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as a Nationally recognized Best Workplace, Albany Business Review Best Places to Work and Albany Times Union Top Workplaces.
Before joining GreyCastle Security, Francesca worked as an OD consultant and focused on strategic culture change at The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group, Inc. for more than six years. There, she facilitated client education sessions, coached leaders and teams, developed and executed consulting interventions and served as strategy project leader on various client engagements. Her work has taken her into Fortune 100 companies and across borders including Panama, Singapore and beyond.
Francesca is a Lean Six Sigma–certified Green Belt, a proud YWCA-GCR board member and in 2013, she coordinated and emceed the inaugural TEDx Troy—a livestream of TEDCity 2.0. Since 2012, she has coordinated and emceed the Troy 100 Forum, a biannual forum for government, religious and community leaders to discuss issues vital to the future of Troy, New York.
Bilingual in English and Italian, Francesca holds a bachelor’s degree in Management and Technology from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lally School of Management & Technology. She was awarded Cybersecurity Recruiter of the year North America in 2017 by the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards.
Jamie Aiello is Senior Vice President of Services and Product Management at GreyCastle Security. In this position, Jamie is responsible for leading a high performing and well-balanced team that is ultimately responsible for the identification, selection, execution and successful performance of our company’s diverse portfolio of cybersecurity offerings.
Prior to joining GreyCastle Security, Jamie has held leadership positions with Annese and Associates, ConvergeOne and BlueSky IT Partners with a focus on delivering cost effective information technology solutions for companies across multiple verticals.
Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, a master’s degree in Business Administration from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina and a master’s degree in Computer Information Systems from University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.