‘Students at risk of cyber fraud’ due to lax universities

STUDENTS are at risk of being conned by loan scammers, a report has warned as it says that universities are failing to protect themselves from cyber-attacks.

Phishing attacks targeting university students are becoming “more sophisticated”, according to the Higher Education Policy Institute and Jisc, a network provider for higher education and research institutions.

Their report urges universities to step up protection against scams, including conning students out of money and stealing intellectual property.

Criminal gangs play a large part in cyber-attacks, the report said, particularly phishing attacks where malicious emails are used to trick the recipient into clicking through to a fake website and entering their log-in details.

The report said: “During 2018, we noticed phishing attacks becoming more sophisticated and better targeted towards the education sector. Particularly at the start of the academic year, there has been an increase in studentgrant fraud.

“This is where students are sent phishing emails purporting to offer free grants or requesting that bank details are updated so that loans can be paid.”

It added: “Organisations that do not adequately protect themselves risk the loss or exposure of personal student and staff data and also commercial, institutional and research data that are valuable to cyber criminals operating domestically and internationally.

“We are not confident that all UK higher education providers are equipped with the adequate cybersecurity related knowledge, skills and investment.”

In September, millions of documents, including sensitive research on nuclear power plants and cyber-security defence, were stolen from top British universities such as Oxford and Cambridge by Iranian hackers.