This paper investigates the integration of blockchain technology into core systems within institutions of higher education, utilizing the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework as a guiding framework. It supplies definitions of key terminology including blockchain, consensus mechanisms, decentralized…

With the advancement in technology over the past decades, networks have become increasingly large and complex. In the meantime, cyberattacks have become highly sophisticated making them difficult to detect. These changes make securing a network more challenging than ever before. Hence, it is critical to prepare a comprehensive guide of network…

This resource provides helpful information for high school teachers and counselors to better understand computer science, an industry that has many high-wage jobs open across the country. The resource supports effective advising by including an overview of computer science, cybersecurity, and networking; defines in-demand computer science skills…

The ability to securely connect to virtual systems is an important element within a safe and supportive learning environment. This is particularly the case within institutions of higher education (IHEs), where students are increasingly learning in digital formats; faculty, staff, and visitors are constantly accessing and sharing information…

Professors teaching cyber security classes often face challenges when developing workshops for their students: How does one quickly and efficiently configure and deploy an operating system for a temporary learning/testing environment? Faculty teaching these classes spend countless hours installing, configuring and deploying multiple system…

Who hasn't received mail from a company notifying them that their personal information may have been compromised? No organization--not Amazon, not the CIA--is immune to cyberattacks, and higher education is no exception. Indeed, colleges and universities may be even more susceptible to security breaches than their corporate brethren, and the…

Too often, organizations make the mistake of treating malware infections as a series of independent occurrences. Each time a malicious program is discovered, IT simply cleans up or rebuilds the affected host, and then moves on with routine operational tasks. Yet, this approach doesn't allow the institution to keep up with the increasingly…

The explosion of Web 2.0 into libraries has left many smaller academic libraries (and other libraries with limited computing resources or support) to work in the cloud using free Web applications. The use of commercial Web hosting is an innovative approach to the problem of inadequate local resources. While the idea of insourcing IT will seem…

The eleventh annual EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey shows some very familiar themes among the top-ten IT issues of strategic importance to technology leaders in higher education. Indeed, all ten of the issues from the 2009 survey are back, albeit in a slightly different order. In addition, Strategic Planning returns as an issue of renewed…

Nationwide, IT breaches rose noticeably across all industries from 2003 to 2006. According to national statistics, hackers account for half of all exposures. Physical loss, theft, and fraud represent the second biggest risk. Security is an issue for all of higher education. Of all higher-education records that were exposed between 2000 and 2008, 4…

Computer security is one of the most complicated and challenging fields in technology today. A security metrics program provides a major benefit: looking at the metrics on a regular basis offers early clues to changes in attack patterns or environmental factors that may require changes in security strategy. The term "security metrics"…

In this article, the author offers six best practices for physical and data security convergence. These are: (1) assess the cable plant; (2) choose wisely; (3) be patient; (4) engineer for high availability; (5) test the converged network to make sure it works; and (6) don't forget the humans.

The late 1980s was an exciting time to be a CIO in higher education. Computing was being decentralized as microcomputers replaced mainframes, networking was emerging, and the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was introducing the concept of an "internet" to hundreds of thousands of new users. Security wasn't much of an issue;…

Without proper security, mobile devices are easy targets for worms, viruses, and so-called robot ("bot") networks. Hackers increasingly use bot networks to launch massive attacks against eCommerce websites--potentially targeting one's online tuition payment or fundraising/financial development systems. How can one defend his mobile systems against…

This article presents the top-ten IT-related issues in terms of strategic importance to the institution, as revealed by the tenth annual EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey. These IT-related issues include: (1) Funding IT; (2) Administrative/ERP Information Systems; (3) Security; (4) Infrastructure/Cyberinfrastructure; (5) Teaching and Learning with…