{"id":172171,"date":"2024-10-07T14:44:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-07T12:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=172171"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:30","slug":"cybersecurity-its-important-but-also-a-hassle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/10\/07\/cybersecurity-its-important-but-also-a-hassle\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybersecurity: it’s important, but also a hassle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Choosing strong passwords, not sharing exam results in WhatsApp, being careful with strange senders… We know what to do and yet we sometimes do the wrong things, a SURF report reads.<\/p>\n

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Just recently, hackers attempted<\/a> to infiltrate the Dutch Research Council (NWO). In the past, there have also been instances where data about students at a university of applied sciences were accessed<\/a> and a university was targeted by ransomware<\/a>. There are countless examples.<\/p>\n

Oftentimes, the firewall isn\u2019t the problem. Most \u2018cyber incidents\u2019 are caused by \u2018unintentional unsafe actions by people\u2019, the report reads. You just happen to click a wrong link or accidentally let someone watch while you enter your password.<\/p>\n

Trust<\/h2>

That\u2019s why SURF, the joint ICT organisation for education, would like to know how teachers, researchers and support staff handle these kinds of things. Over six thousand employees of higher education institutions and research institutes filled in a questionnaire, just like two hundred employees in secondary vocational education.<\/p>\n

The outcomes are in the report<\/a> entitled \u2018Security and privacy awareness 2024\u2019. Knowledge about cybersecurity is growing, but practice is lagging behind, is the message. Almost everyone thinks information security is important, or even very important, but they don\u2019t always pay attention to it (only 67 percent) and they\u2019re even less trusting of their colleagues when it comes to this.<\/p>\n

Pen and paper<\/h2>

It\u2019s just such a hassle sometimes. \u201cClicking through several screens, completing forms, checking extra devices: it\u2019s tiring\u201d, says one of the respondents. \u201cOne day we\u2019ll go back to pen and paper, I\u2019m afraid, because all of those rules aren\u2019t feasible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conversely, other employees sometimes feel the approach is too free of obligation. \u201cA culture must be created where we call each other to account, because making agreements is one thing, but acting according to them is another, as are calling each other to account, correcting one another and enforcing the agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n

At universities in particular, people think they\u2019re fairly capable, but they do give lower scores for their motivation. In their opinion, they\u2019re also not always properly equipped to pay attention to safety.<\/p>\n

What employees want? To be provided, for example, with a VPN connection (which makes it difficult to track internet traffic) and a password manager (so you don\u2019t have to remember strong passwords yourself). They also want to know which software they can use and when you can and cannot share personal data.<\/p>\n

Sceptics<\/h2>

The recommendations in the report are obvious. For example, the education institutions must remove obstacles to safe working and create a strong \u2018security culture\u2019. It must also be made easier to report a data leak, as many employees have no idea what to do when they encounter one.<\/p>\n

Making sure new employees are brought up to speed on the dangers is another recommendation. After all, you don\u2019t know if these people are aware of those or not.<\/p>\n

The education institutions also have to keep in mind that there are sceptics, who think the attention being paid to cybersecurity and privacy is exaggerated. They are a small group, but can pose a risk. \u201cTalk to them and listen to their arguments\u201d, writes agency BDO, which administered the survey on behalf of SURF.<\/p>\n\n\t

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