Information security experts have warned: Educational institutions, especially universities at the beginning of the registration and training period, may be under the threat of a cyber attack.
After the intensive cyber attack, the University of Michigan in the United States had to temporarily shut down its systems, causing global concern ahead of the registration and education period. To minimize the impact of cyber attacks that could put users of licensed software in a difficult situation, experts are recommending a transition to open-source software systems.
Prominent institutions worldwide continue to be targets of cyber attackers. One of the recent major attacks led the University of Michigan, a significant institution, to shut down its systems.
With approximately 51,000 students and over 30,000 academics, the University of Michigan reported that the recent cybersecurity incident caused disruptions in its information systems over the weekend, blocking access to crucial online services, including Google, Canvas, Wolverine Access, and email.
The university announced that services like Zoom, Adobe Cloud, Dropbox, Slack, Google, Canvas, and Adobe Cloud were partially operational. Facing such an incident at the beginning of the academic year has left universities worldwide uneasy.
Are universities in Turkey in danger?
Fatih Zeyveli, the CEO of BeyazNet, who warned Turkish universities about cyber attacks, stated that the decision to transition to open-source code software coincided with the presidential decree. He continued by saying:
"Even a significant institution like the University of Michigan has taken measures to protect itself from cyber attacks related to open source. In Turkey, there have been issues with the sale of student data on the DarkWeb for a few universities in the past. Our universities need to increase their precautions for cybersecurity. Moreover, almost no university in Turkey fully utilizes open-source code software. This indicates that in the event of an attack, there would be serious consequences affecting universities. With the presidential decree, our universities should swiftly transition entirely to open source, allocating the funds that would otherwise be spent on license costs. This way, they will not only achieve a more secure infrastructure but also move to a flexible and manageable system, freeing themselves from license fees."
Regular DMA enables resilient and sustainable systems
Distributed structures like universities need to regularly assess the reliability of their systems. BeyazNet, Turkey's digital transformation expert, provides a unique service in this regard. Through a service called Digital Maturity Assessment (DMA), all systems are examined from a 360-degree perspective. The DMA service audits dozens of standards, including ISO 27001 and the Information and Communication Security Guide (BİGREHBER), which is mandatory for the Presidential Digital Transformation Office. By periodically implementing the DMA service, organizations can measure their resilience and sustainability. In this way, institutions receiving DMA services at regular intervals have the opportunity to identify and strengthen all weaknesses, from cybersecurity to potential system issues, and address them.
Source: yenigun
