Dive Brief:

• A new survey from CDW-G suggests college IT departments are missing the mark when it comes to educating their student bodies about cybersecurity threats, reports University Business.
• Only 26% of college students said they were aware of cybersecurity breaches at their institutions, even though the the vast majority IT professionals said they reported such incidents campus wide.
• Cybersecurity training is often mandatory for faculty and staff, but most institutions lack the resources and infrastructure to provide the same to students, making it difficult to educate students not just to protect the school’s systems, but to safeguard their own off-campus affairs as well.

Dive Insight:

Making sure students are aware of cybersecurity risks is key to protecting students’ privacy. Working to establish basic protection standards, and collaborate across academic and administrative departments to reinforce best practices and share information are important first steps to shoring up security on campus.

Even without having the dedicated personnel to provide cybersecurity training for all students, colleges and universities can better grab their students’ attention about cyber risks on campus by embracing texting, social media, mobile apps and other newer ways of connecting. Digital and social media was named the Education Dive: Higher Ed 2017 investment of the year because of not just the cost-effectiveness of digital communications, but because it is essential to communicating with students. Students prefer digital communications, according to a survey reported in Campus Technology that looked at the first year experiences of college freshmen. The survey found that students were “48 percent more likely to report satisfaction when using a mobile app to find campus information, versus searching the school website.”

These innovative apps and software are not only strengthening the ability of colleges to remind students about important deadlines, emergencies and cybersecurity risks, they are also improving the student experience. According to Ed Tech Magazine, new communications technologies are generating student information about students that colleges can channel to support academic success.