Effective Tips to Keep School Cybersecurity 2021

A brand-new school year is on the way. Due to the global epidemic, online course is and will be an important tool for lectures taking. You need the Internet to complete class assignments, research, and other tasks. Therefore, teachers and students are more digitally connected than ever before.

However, campus cybersecurity is under great risks such as computer viruses compromising important data, hackers hijacking your accounts and cyber thieves stealing your identity. So online safety now is a notable concern for students, parents, and teachers. How to learn and practice solid cybersecurity habits is crucial to positive school experience. In this guide, we will inform you of the best ways to keep your cybersecurity on campus.

What are Common School Cybersecurity Attacks?

Phishing

Phishing scams are typically carried out over email but may also come from social media or SMS. Whether emails or social media are all indispensable in students’ life. Usually, attackers send an email that appears to be from an authoritative source, or from someone students know personally, seducing users to send along sensitive information or to enter their login credentials on a fake site. Once cybercriminals have the information requested, they can use it for fraudulent purposes, credential stuffing on other websites, selling it on the dark web, and more.

DDoS Attacks

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have become common occurrences at both K-12 schools and universities. DDoS attacks overwhelm network servers by flooding them with requests from thousands of machines, usually through a botnet. Ultimately, the increase in traffic knocks the institution offline. This is a trend that will likely increase, as DDoS as service attacks can cost as little as five dollars on the dark web.

Malware Attack

Malware attack is also common in schools. It is typically proliferated through malicious attachments or links sent in emails. Students may easily click the link that is seen on the Internet or attachments contained in the email. The hackers can make money by stealing students’ sensitive information such as online banking logins, credit card numbers, or intellectual properties. There are different types of malware and a famous kind of malware is ransomware, it is often achieved by encrypting the students’ data with a password and asking money from the victim to decrypt it. It’s so important to learn complete methods to get rid of malwares so that you can grasp your online security.

Why Do Students Tend to be Targets for Cyber Attacks?

Compared with the working-class, students have little social experience, so cybersecurity is often one of the last things on college students’ minds. As a result, they are naive and uninformed about how identity theft takes place and what the consequences are. The following are reasons why students are especially vulnerable to data theft.

Students are Often Not Aware of Online Threats.

With various complex online threats emerging every day, it will be impossible for schools to cover every aspect of online threats, so students are often uneducated about the different cyber threats that exist, and how they can affect them. Naturally, as a result, they do not have effective methods of preventing such attacks from taking place.

Students Often have Good Credit Records.

Since most students have not previously bought a house or car or made regular payments on big purchases, it is safe to assume that they do not really have credit established. This means that they have good credit because it is very little on record. This is good for identity thieves because they are able to utilize students’ good track records to get credit approvals. Therefore, their identity as a student is worth a large fortune for the abusers.

Students do Not Prioritize Financial Situations.

Focusing on their studies and social life, finances are not always the first thing on students’ minds. Thieves are well-aware of this and exploit them as a result. To ensure that no suspicious activity is taking place, it is crucial for students to take some time here and there to check their wallets and bank accounts. This ensures that they don’t get unexpectedly hit with fraudulent charges or identity theft.

Students Always Use the Same Password for Everything.

Because of inadequate awareness of cybersecurity, students often use the same passwords for a lot of things in all their devices and accounts. As a matter of fact, not students alone, many people use the same password everywhere, which is an extremely risky online activity. This makes their lives a bit easier in the sense that they don’t have to worry about remembering so many passwords. On the other hand, though, it can also backfire on them and make it easier for identity thieves to steal information. Your password should be seriously taken since it’s mostly the easiest access to your privacy.

Most School WiFis Have Hidden Dangers.

All students use school WiFi on campus. However, school WiFi is as risky as public WiFi because you’re connected to the same WiFi as thousands of other students. Therefore, School WiFi networks are attractive targets for snoops and hackers because so many different students use them that they never run out of new targets. They can snoop in on the traffic and get all your social media accounts, credit card numbers, email passwords, etc.

How to Keep Cybersecurity on Campus in 2021?

Think Before You Click

This may be common sense to many, but a helpful reminder as well. Never click on anything that may be suspicious from your email or social media even it looks like a professional person. When in doubt, do a quick Google search before clicking on any link, or don’t click on it at all if you don’t have to. Shady links may lead to a virus, which could potentially result in a data breach.

Use School WiFi Carefully

Students nowadays carry their own devices with them at all times, school Wi-Fi is offered at more and more places and is a convenient way to connect to fast internet speeds. But as with anything that is convenient, you’ll want to practice caution. School Wi-Fi is often unencrypted, easily hacked to direct whatever you typing, such as passwords and personal information, through a gateway that hackers can see.

Create Strong Passwords

The same and easy-to-remember passwords may result in your devices and identity being stolen. Once stolen, all stolen. Check your password regularly especially the important ones like your email, bank, and social media. Your devices should also be protected with a password of some sort so that people who get a hold of them won’t be able to gain access so easily. Never share your passwords with anyone and avoid using the same password for multiple accounts and devices. Change them frequently whenever possible for optimal safety.

Use a VPN

Using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is the best way to protect your data while being online. It encrypts your data on any connection you are using, keeping prying eyes locked out. A VPN is strongly recommended for any public Wi-Fi connections including your School WiFi. Students studying abroad should absolutely make use of a VPN when they are overseas, as foreign students are often a prime target for identity theft. There are VPN services for all your devices that connect to the internet. Be sure to pick a service that is reputable; the ones with lifetime access for low prices are generally not reliable.

How to Choose a VPN for Your Cybersecurity on Campus in 2021?

Decentralized VPN

Actually, there are several good VPNs on the market. However, with decentralized as its feature, BitVPN prevents any type of logging from being possible. In addition, the blockchain technology that doesn’t rely on a single central server is also included, so the system will be self-justifying and more secure. So, your online activities can’t be tracked when you are using BitVPN.

Fast Connection Speed & Large VPN Server Number

BitVPN has large bandwidth to ensure the highest connection speed for users. So no worries about connection restrictions. Moreover, BitVPN has many VPN servers around the world. Some schools may restrict games or social media apps when connected to school WiFi, this situation can be changed when you use BitVPN. With different location servers for you to choose from, you can easily unblock the restricted websites and apps. Moreover, for online video gamers, they can also expect game-specific VPN servers leading to high connection speed and a PUBG specific server is also available for the best performance of your playing.

Free & Unlimited data

BitVPN can be used for FREE. That must be a blast for students who have no sources of income. Users are allowed to get free data from the app by completing tasks like watching videos, paper plane surprises, and finishing special offers. It works best for students!

Compatible with Different Devices

Up to now, BitVPN can be used on PCs, laptops, tablets, and cell phones with operating systems ranging from iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS, fully meeting the widest range of applications. So, you can connect your laptop and your phone simultaneously with BitVPN.