threat-intel
Threat Recon Unit Finds Increase in Higher Ed Cyber Threats
The DeepSeas Threat Recon Unit is seeing an increase higher ed cyber threats. In the final few months of 2024, the cybersecurity landscape grew increasingly perilous for colleges and universities. The cyber threat reconnaissance unit at DeepSeas is showing evidence that cyber criminals are refining their tactics to target institutions of higher learning, resulting in a recent surge of ransomware attacks, pre-ransomware activities, and other impactful cyber incidents that threaten operational integrity and sensitive data.
Below, the DeepSeas crew outlines questions and answers revolving around the rapidly evolving situation with the increase in higher ed cyber threats.
What are the most recent incidents DeepSeas is seeing in higher education?
In the fourth quarter of 2024, DeepSeas recorded a notable rise in cyber incidents among higher education institutions. Partnering with leading Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) teams and leveraging trusted endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, the DeepSeas Security Operations Center (SOC) rapidly deployed, monitored, and mitigated 140 events in Q4 2024 alone that required rapid response. A disproportionate number of events targeted higher education institutions.
This data was gathered by DeepSeas from multiple internal and external sources to develop comprehensive trends, analyses, and predictions to stay ahead of threats for our clients.
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What are the primary higher ed cyber threats?
- Ransomware: Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts an organization’s data, rendering it inaccessible until a ransom is paid. The fallout from such attacks often includes operational shutdowns, financial losses, and reputational damage.
- Pre-ransomware: Pre-ransomware refers to malicious activities occurring prior to a ransomware attack. These activities may include reconnaissance and unauthorized access to systems where attackers plant the seeds for future encryption or data theft without immediate detection.
What are common higher ed cyber threats?
- Phishing refers to fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information, including login credentials or financial details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity.
- Credential theft involves compromising user credentials through breaches, phishing, or automated means, such as password spraying, brute-forcing credentials, etc.
- Denial of Service (DoS) attacks occur by overloading systems to disrupt services or disguise other malicious activities, such as data exfiltration or staging tools.
- Data breaches allow for unauthorized access to and exfiltration of sensitive institutional data or personally identifiable information (PII).
Why is there an increase higher ed cyber threats?
Colleges and universities represent prime targets for cyber attackers due to the factors outlined below.
- Open access networks are designed to foster collaboration and research and often lack the stringent controls found in corporate environments.
- Valuable data, from personal student information to cutting-edge research, makes higher education institutions a well-known store of sensitive data.
- Resource constraints can translate to limited budgets and serious challenges to implementing a transformational cybersecurity program.
- Decentralized IT, which is a common setup for university IT systems, makes it difficult to inventory, assess, and remediate vulnerable or outdated software/devices.
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Why is now the time to transform your cyber defense program?
If you’re reading this threat intel alert, now is the time to start transforming your cybersecurity program. The surge in cyber incidents highlights the urgent need for continuous improvement to safeguard your institution. DeepSeas can guide you through its proprietary three-phase transformation process, which is presented by Wade Alt, COO of DeepSeas, in this video demonstration and briefly outlined below.
Phase One of Transformation: Gain Visibility
In the visibility phase, we get a deeper understanding of our denominator and really quantify your organization’s current cybersecurity impact. Only then can we prioritize, because an honest and in-depth understanding of where you are today is the best first step.
Phase Two of Transformation: Integrate and Operate Processes & Governance
Phase two is where we reveal that many organizations are using a situational or ad hoc approach. A good deal of the organizations that engage with DeepSeas have a response that is really a loose federation of groups that come together to execute an ad hoc process. With DeepSeas guiding your cyber defense program’s transformation, you’ll realize the benefits of our systematic, repeatable, and reliable approach.
Phase 3 of Transformation: Optimize Your Program
Phase three is when your organization will feel the benefit and impact of the substantial effort put forth in the earlier two phases. However, there is sometimes confusion during the optimization phase, because leaders may think that taking steps toward optimization leads to reductions in personnel — but that isn’t the intent of optimization or a foregone conclusion. Implementing the DeepSeas transformation framework and solid detection technologies should enhance and focus the work of your current team, rather than reducing headcount. Phase three builds consistency and efficiency through a continuous improvement framework – which we’ve seen build cost savings and business benefits like reducing risk, achieving resiliency, and protecting reputation.
How can you kick off your cyber program transformation in 2025
Our crew at DeepSeas is ready to deliver guidance on cybersecurity strategy, 24×7 monitoring that reduces mean time to detect from days to minutes, and offensive security solutions to protect your institution from rapidly evolving threats.