Cyberoam sheds light on cyber security threats in education institutions

NAIROBI, KENYA: Staying one step ahead of the hacker is not an easy task not only for technology professionals but also educational institutions.

With new tricks, accessing adult content, opening unknown emails and downloading apps from unofficial stores puts Kenya education institutions at risk of being hacked.

With cybercrime clearly being on the rise, Cyberoam believes that its important to educate education institutions i.e. universities and colleges on cyber security dangers. For the past decade, Kenya has seen massive Internet penetration and students are at the verge of making risky choices in regard to what content they access through school networks.

The country’s economic growth is directly linked to its increasing information technology footprint. In 2013, the contribution of the ICT sector to Kenya’s GDP stood at 12.1 percent and it’s been growing ever since. It’s not just businesses that are leveraging the immense potential of IT for strategic growth. The education sector has got into the act as well, with many education institutes using IT to transform the mechanics of education and increasing its reach and quality. But with opportunity come threats in the form of cyber-attacks that lead to data breaches, compromising sensitive student and institute data.

Commenting on a sensitisation symposium held last week at a Nairobi hotel, Philip Obondy, channel manager Kenya, Cyberoam said as Kenya begins to harness ICT driven education, a key objective would be to leverage the resourcefulness of the Internet and maximize productivity while keeping threats at bay.

Therefore educators and parents would want to ensure that students and children are secure from undesirable exposure to malicious and harmful content like pornography, cyber-bullying and other unproductive content.

Cyberoam believes the symposium has made a positive difference in the way Kenya’s education sector will meet advanced cyber security threats. The company is already partnering with various private and government organizations in Kenya to make them more secure against cyber-attacks. They also have a training wing that educates CIOs, network administrators and others who have a stake in keeping the organization’s network perimeter secure against external and internal threats.

This educational symposium is not a one off event and the company has plans to hold many more such events that will continue creating more awareness to secure Kenya’s education sector by working closely with education institutes to help address the various cyber threats that have these learning establishments in their crosshairs.