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Cybersecurity in Universities: An Evaluation Model

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Abstract

Cybercriminals have been increasingly targeting higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift to online learning and remote work has created new opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities in university networks and systems. This paper highlights the challenges faced by universities in ensuring the security of their information systems and employee data and the potential consequences of cyberattacks. The objective of this study is to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the cybersecurity situation in university facilities by identifying, quantifying, and modeling it. The resulting model will enable educational institutions to recognize potential operational risks and determine which measures to implement or improve to mitigate those risks. Consequently, we will create a novel assessment tool in this study to offer universities a precise representation of their current status, aiding university designers in incorporating the recommended cyber risk mitigation measures into the system design before deployment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia for the help and support. This study is supported via funding from Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University project number (PSAU/2023/R/1444).

Funding

This study is supported via funding from Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University project number (PSAU/2023/R/1444).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara, 802301, India

    Md Alimul Haque

  2. Department of Computer Science, College of Computer Engineering and Sciences, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, 11942, Saudi Arabia

    Sultan Ahmad & Jabeen Nazeer

  3. University Center for Research and Development (UCRD), Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali, Punjab, 140413, India

    Sultan Ahmad

  4. Department of Advertising and Marketing Management (AMM), Patna Women’s College, Patna, India

    Alok John

  5. Department of Physics, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara, 802301, India

    Khushboo Mishra & Binay Kumar Mishra

  6. College of Computing and Informatics, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Kailash Kumar

Authors
  1. Md Alimul Haque
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  2. Sultan Ahmad
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  3. Alok John
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  4. Khushboo Mishra
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  5. Binay Kumar Mishra
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  6. Kailash Kumar
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  7. Jabeen Nazeer
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Contributions

All authors contributed to design and development of the system as well as the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sultan Ahmad.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the topical collection “Industrial IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems” guest edited by Arun K Somani, Seeram Ramakrishnan, Anil Chaudhary and Mehul Mahrishi.

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Haque, M.A., Ahmad, S., John, A. et al. Cybersecurity in Universities: An Evaluation Model. SN COMPUT. SCI. 4, 569 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-023-01984-x

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