The cyber threat to Universities

guest · Sep 18, 2019

The cyber threat to Universities
Universities tempting targets for cyber criminals, warns NCSC
September 18, 2019
https://www.computerweekly.com/news...mpting-targets-for-cyber-criminals-warns-NCSC

As global centres of learning, research and innovation, and key contributors to the economy, UK universities hold a treasure trove of personal and research data, intellectual property and other data assets that make them a tempting target for attacks by cyber criminals and state-sponsored actors, according to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which has just published an assessment of the cyber security threat to academia.

The NCSC’s report sets out to raise awareness of the threat environment faced by universities and some of the measures they can put in place in response.

“The NCSC’s assessment helps universities better understand the cyber threats they may face as part of the global and open nature of research and what they can do about it using a Trusted Research approach.
The report states that the most immediate and potentially disruptive threat to universities is from cyber criminals using phishing attacks – often targeting student .ac.uk email addresses – but the longer-term threat comes from nation states looking to steal crucial research for their own ends.
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Critical steps to plug security holes
The assessment urged university IT departments to take three critical steps to address the holes in their system.

First, since phishing attacks exploit human tendencies, it recommended increasing awareness of these attacks among staff and students as a priority.
Second, while a frequently changing student population makes it a challenge to ensure network access is only provided where appropriate or necessary [...]

Finally, it said steps should be taken to redesign university networks so that the smaller, private networks, often maintained by faculties or laboratories, are brought under centralised oversight and policy.
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NCSC: The cyber threat to Universities

Assessing the cyber security threat to UK Universities
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guest · Aug 18, 2020

54% of universities reported a data breach in the past year
August 18, 2020
https://www.itgovernance.co.uk/blog/54-of-universities-reported-a-data-breach-in-the-past-year

A survey has found that 54% of UK universities reported a data breach to the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) in the past 12 months.

Of the 86 universities that responded to a Freedom of Information request from security firm Redscan, the majority admitted serious shortcomings in their ability to prevent data breaches.
According to the study, 46% of university staff haven’t received staff awareness training in the past year, and universities spend just £7,529 a year on average educating their employees.

The lack of investment in staff awareness training is particularly dangerous when you consider the amount of sensitive data that universities hold.
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“Penetration testing ensures universities can better understand and mitigate the threats to their security and demonstrate compliance with the GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] and PCI DSS [Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard].”
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Redscan report: "The state of cyber security across UK universities"
(PDF): https://www.redscan.com/media/The-state-of-cyber-security-across-UK-universities-Redscan-report.pdf

guest · Dec 3, 2020

20 Universities targeted by “Shadow Academy” hackers
Hackers identified after the discovery of a fake Louisiana State University student portal
December 3, 2020
https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/hacking/358001/20-universities-targeted-by-shadow-academy-hackers

Louisiana State University (LSU) and 19 other universities worldwide have fallen victim to a spate of phishing campaigns that could be related to attacks carried out by an Iranian-based company on U.S. agencies, universities, and businesses.

According to a report by cybersecurity firm RiskIQ, the attacks took place between July and October this year and uncovered 20 unique targets in Australia, Afghanistan, the UK, and the US.
The first target identified from RiskIQ crawl data was an LSU-themed student portal login page. According to researchers, it became clear that threat actors were leveraging domain shadowing, the same technique Silent Librarian used.
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In addition to LSU, the attacks targeted 14 other US educational institutions. These include University of Arizona, Southeastern Louisiana University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Manhattan College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Bowling Green State University, Wright State University, Texas State University, University of North Texas, Abilene Christian University, The Evergreen State College, Western Washington University and the University of Washington.

The attacks initially focused on stealing domain account credentials. They then register unauthorized subdomains to point traffic to malicious servers or, in this case, create phishing pages.

“These subdomains are challenging to detect because they are associated with well-known domains, often don't follow any discernible pattern, and don't affect the parent domain or anything hosted on that domain,” said researchers.
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RiskIQ: ‘Shadow Academy’ Targets 20 Universities Worldwide

In early July 2020, RiskIQ began tracking a phishing campaign identified through our internet intelligence graph targeting colleges and universities worldwide. From July 2020 into October 2020, RiskIQ systems uncovered 20 unique targets in Australia, Afghanistan, the UK, and the USA.

All these attacks used similar tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) as Mabna Institute, an Iranian company that, according to the FBI, was created for illegally gaining access "to non-Iranian scientific resources through computer intrusions." Mabna Institute earned the moniker "Silent Librarian" due to its focused efforts to compromise university students and faculty by impersonating university library resources using domain shadowing to harvest credentials.
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