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Online learning has expanded access to education across all levels. However, as beneficial as these platforms can be, they pose unique cybersecurity risks. Securing e-learning platforms will become increasingly crucial as more school systems embrace this technology.

The Challenge of Securing Online Learning

Online education’s vast amount of sensitive data is its most prominent risk. These platforms may hold information like student names, addresses and financial details, all of which make ideal targets for cybercriminals. Even more troubling is the fact that the average K-12 district uses more than 2,500 EdTech tools, giving attackers many potential ways to access this data.

While not every educational technology is inherently vulnerable, the industry’s shift to digital solutions highlights its swelling attack surface. A single school might use multiple online learning tools, and an e-learning platform may host data from hundreds of schools. This puts a lot of sensitive information at risk.

Securing these platforms isn’t always as straightforward as it may seem. Schools spend less than 8% of their IT budgets on security, with one in five spending under 1%. Those budgetary constraints make it challenging to implement the kinds of protections needed in many cases.

It’s also worth considering that online learning’s primary users are students. As such, they lack the knowledge or experience to follow best practices. They also require seamless access, which may be at odds with stronger protections.

Steps for Better Online Learning Security

These obstacles make cybersecurity in online learning critical and challenging. School systems and their security partners can navigate this unique risk landscape through these five best practices.

1. Be Selective About Third Parties

E-learning cybersecurity begins with choosing appropriate tools. The EdTech market is vast and constantly expanding, but not every solution offers the security schools need. Considering the sensitive nature of education data, they must be more selective about the third parties they do business with.

Education IT decision-makers must verify online platforms’ security before partnering with them. That includes reviewing their breach history and only working with third parties that meet recognized industry standards for cybersecurity. It’s also important to ask online platforms about their supply chain security measures, as 75% of third-party breaches come through partners.

2. Implement Stricter Access Controls

Online learning platforms must be similarly careful about insider threats. These risks are common in education, as student bodies shift frequently. New users must gain access and old ones lose it each year, making it easy to leave too many accounts with access to sensitive systems. Tighter access controls are necessary to address these risks.

Requiring multifactor authentication (MFA) is a good first step but is insufficient by itself. IT administrators must also implement the principle of least privilege so even authorized users can’t access or affect all data. E-learning platforms should automatically disenroll students from the system, removing their privileges once they graduate or finish a course.

3. Practice More In-Depth Data Governance

Online education also requires more visibility and control over related information. That starts with thorough data mapping. One of the biggest reasons why just 13% of the world’s data has the protection it needs is because organizations don’t know what information they have. It’s difficult to protect what you don’t see.

Admins should apply stricter governance policies once it’s clear what information an online learning platform collects. Delete anything that isn’t necessary, especially if it contains personally identifiable information (PII). Scrubbing critical data of PII is another possible alternative. Similarly, e-learning platforms should have defined policies for clearing old information after a set period.

Assigning varying protections to different datasets based on their specific risks will also help. This more detailed strategy will maximize defenses while minimizing required resources for more cost-effective cybersecurity.

4. Train All Employees and Users

User training is also essential. This is important in any context to prevent insider threats from human error. It’s even more critical in education, where budgets constrain technical defenses and many users are young.

Online learning platforms should require students to complete a security best practices training course when creating their accounts. These sessions should emphasize the personal impact of cyberthreats, as people are becoming more complacent about security as news about it grows. Topics to cover include anti-phishing measures, strong password management and the importance of MFA.

Teachers, IT staff and other users should undergo even more detailed and advanced security training. Ideally, those with greater access permissions should pass security tests regularly to maintain their privileges.

5. Revisit Protections and Policies Regularly

Online learning platforms and schools that use them must make cybersecurity an ongoing process. At its most basic, that means updating all e-learning tools as soon as possible. Exploited vulnerabilities account for 36% of all ransomware attacks in education — more than any other root cause — so these updates will stop many breaches.

Annual penetration testing and comparing current standings to shifting industry standards or emerging threat trends are also necessary. Cybercrime moves quickly, so a sector as vulnerable as education must become similarly adaptive.

Online Education Highlights the Need for Better Security

Education is becoming a favorite target for cybercriminals, and online learning platforms make these threats all the more prominent. Better security is necessary for schools to benefit from this technology more than they’re harmed by it.

While balancing accessibility, budgets and safety can be challenging, more reliable cybersecurity is possible. Schools and their security partners must address this gap today.

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