Why a Secure LMS Is More Important Than Ever?

Why a Secure LMS Is More Important Than Ever?

Data security has been a point of concern for several institutes over the last few years. The rising adoption of new technologies, ERP solutions, and e-learning facilities is increasing vulnerabilities in the institutes making them highly prone to malicious attacks, data theft attacks, and online privacy issues. Hence, the institutes need to secure the LMS and other online systems. Here are a few reasons stating the importance of secure LMS in an institute.

High Cost of Handling Data Breaches-

The educational institutes have to spend a large amount to recover the data, decrypt it, and secure their data. Further, there is a disturbance in the working operations and functions of the institute. The students miss classes, all activities are hampered and the faculty members and admin have to spend extra hours keeping the data manually.

The cost of handling breaches is not just in monetary terms but it also damages the reputation of the institute in long term. Parents of the students lose interest and find it risky to complete the student’s education in the institute. 

•       Increasing Ransomware Attacks in Institutes-

As per credible reports, ransomware is known to be targeting the educational sector far more than other industries. There are three main categories of ransomware that are affecting the education industry namely-

•       Scareware-

This is the ransomware that makes use of pop-ups and alert messages. These kinds of messages are sent to the users stating that malware is discovered on the system. These messages create an urgency in the user’s mind and they aim to scare the people into paying for security software that will fix the problem. But the antivirus software for which the people have paid is malware that they download on the system.

•       Screen lockers-

These types of attacks lock the systems, files, and folders. When the users try to access it, it demands payment of an amount to unlock the system. A pop-up will be seen as the people try to use to infected file and folder. Further, the screen locker wouldn’t go on trying to cut.

Encrypting Ransomware-

This is the most dangerous ransomware and causes a lot of damage to the institute. The ransomware attacks files seize them and encrypt them. The users only get a message saying that they can no longer access the file or system. If they wish to access it and decrypt and regain the access, they need to pay the amount asked by the attacker.

As per an analysis, the education sector has to bear the highest cost of recovering ransomware.

Rising attempts of Data Hacking-

The institutes do not only have a risk of witnessing financial losses but also contain data such as student’s personal information, financial details of the parents and students, medical records, emergency contacts, confidential reports of the institute, and others. This data is extremely useful and can be easily misused if gotten into the wrong hands. 

Further, the institutes have important research papers, discoveries, and inventions that are kept confidential before they are published or a patent is filed. Hence, it is important to keep the data safe from hacker attacks and other data threats in the online system.

The rising implementation of ERP solutions and growing virtual communications are making the institutes highly vulnerable to attacks. 

Conclusion-

There is a rise in digitization and internet penetration along with the introduction of new technologies and innovations in educational institutes. Even if the institutes and organizations are making investments and efforts in securing the data, new challenges and risks are coming up every day. Hence, it is always helpful to secure the learning management system and be always ready and cautious for any type of data theft or malicious attacks.