College's data leak posing a significant security risk in southern Indian region

A thriving hacker has been found to be posting a college database showcasing it to be a breach. This happened to one of the colleges in the southern region of India, Kerala. Necessary measures have been taken to keep them up to date!

The college’s information was found to be floating around on the Dark Web. These data seem to be highly sensitive. These data could be acquired by any human being for just a few thousand. It is found that the threat was imposed by a hacker, with less of a hacking history. The cause of this breach could be due to the least security measures taken by the organization.

Even a thriving hacker, takes minutes to hack weak websites; it takes hours, days, or sometimes weeks to get it resolved by the organization. In some cases, colleges do encounter the ask of bulk Ransome money to fix the issue immediately and to guard themselves against the leak of information for protecting the College’s reputation.

Cyber security awareness in the education sector, especially for management is just booming to 35% which is at an alarmingly slow rate. And the security factors seem a question mark. Often colleges encounter internal Wi-Fi hacks and their portal being hacked just by the students to manipulate their attendance and internal marks. The measures taken to control be; to silence the students by detaining them for a few days, heavy assignments, fewer internal marks, and in the worst case failing the semester.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) along with the Chief Information Security Officer made it compulsory to follow the Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP) to counter Cyber Terrorism. Despite the measures of the government, these regulations have not been considered seriously by Educational Institutions in India.

The common details that can are usually encountered in the dark web include name, application number, email, password, Aadhaar number, phone number, admission details, year of passing, parent's name, parents' occupation, medical history of the entire family, Ect., These details could be used for financial frauds, identity theft, education frauds (question paper leak and other related materials), Etc., As cybersecurity experts, we opine that educational institutions should enforce proper mechanisms to protect students' data.

Only a few colleges have what it takes to secure their online presence and countable colleges have incorporated strong enough cyber measures to save themselves from cyber-attacks. The actual measure taken must be: “To incorporate a cyber security platform for the organization and to rely on them to understand the possible breaches and to fill the loopholes” these direct having a dedicated team for cyber security with an awareness campaign, continuous monitoring of deep & dark web and much more.

A few of the beneficial factors are listed below:

• Safeguarding the college's reputation from the possible threat attacks
• Saving from paying the huge ransom amount
• Limited internal hacks (from the students)
• Privacy with the student's data, Ect.,

Educational leaders can address contemporary ransomware by taking advantage of the modern protocols which mostly focus on artificial intelligence AI and machine learning ML keeping in mind that the enhancement of cyber safety in the educational sector needs to be enacted sooner.

Hence, vaccinate your digital footprint with cyber safety measures before you are prone to the threats of the outer world.

About Foresiet!

Foresiet is the pioneering force in digital security solutions, offering the first integrated Digital Risk Protection SaaS platform. With 24x7x365 dark web monitoring and proactive threat intelligence, Foresiet safeguards against data breaches and intellectual property theft. Our robust suite includes brand protection, takedown services, and supply chain assessment, enhancing your organization's defense mechanisms. Attack surface management is a key component of our approach, ensuring comprehensive protection across all vulnerable points. Compliance is assured through adherence to ISO27001, NIST, GDPR, PCI, SOX, HIPAA, SAMA, CITC, and Third Party regulations. Additionally, our advanced antiphishing shield provides unparalleled protection against malicious emails. Trust Foresiet to empower your organization to navigate the digital landscape securely and confidently.