Cybersecurity

 

Cybersecurity is an ever-changing field, and it is only increasing in importance. Every year, our cybersecurity team engages in a number of major projects, plus regular security maintenance and and awareness effort. This year we've grown our team, increased security across campus, found new ways to grow awareness, and worked on collaborations with other institutions within our network.

The cybersecurity team worked on several major projects throughout 2019. One of the most significant events was the opening of a brand new Security Operations Center. It's staffed by students so it provides hands-on learning for them, and they assist in keeping campus more secure.

Another group was founded in 2019, called the Cybersecurity Liaisons Group. Cybersecurity representatives from across campus are invited to come together and discuss the needs of our campus and ways to stay ahead of the curve.

The Cybersecurity team also had two major implementations in 2019. The first was to require 2-Factor Authentication for all students when accessing sensitive data. The second was a new anti-virus/anti-malware on over 11,000 university-owned devices. These efforts, among other day-to-day tasks, are what help keep our university data and research safe.

Our cybersecurity team does impressive work, but the rest of campus still has an important role to play in protecting themselves and the university. In order to achieve that, the cybersecurity team works throughout the year to raise awareness. Some of the efforts from 2019 were:

  • Our Chief Information Security Officer appeard on Eagle Eye TV to discuss the importance of DUO and 2-Factor Authentication in general.
  • SGA invited us to have a table during Student Safety Week to address cyber safety and the impact it has on students' lives.
  • Human Resources invited us to have a table during the annual Family Fun Day so we could raise awareness amongst employees and their families.
  • During National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we had tables on campus, invited Aubie to come promote cybersecurity, and had a building block station to encourage the importance of building a better password.

Cybersecurity efforst cannot exist in a vacuum, and it is crucial that we collaborate with other institutions, especially those we engage in research with, on how to improve our security efforts. Each year, our cybersecurity team looks for new ways to work with other institutions, and in 2019, they focused heavily on working with the Higher Education Security Round Table (HE-SRT) group which consists of 18 colleges from across the Southeast.

Earlier in the year, two members of the cybersecurity staff went to the University of Alabama to participate in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the HE-SRT group. Later in the year, Auburn had the opportunity to host the meeting and share perspectives unique to our institution.

Cybersecurity Numbers At A Glance

11,040  university-owned devices converted to a new anti-malware software
38,090,685 threats blocked by firewalls
83% of the nearly 1.5 billion emails inbound to campus contained malicious content and were blocked
5,759 viruses blocked before reaching campus via email
35 representatives from across campus in the Cybersecurity Liaisons Group
18 colleges from across the Southeast attended the Security Round Table at AU
 

Last Updated: February 14, 2020