The education sector is more likely to visit malicious Web sites. According to research,users in the education sector are more likely to visit dangerous websites.
According to the new “threat galaxy” from Websense Security Labs, users in the education sector are three times more likely to visit websites with topics such as cultural and religious institutions, political organizations, supplements and associations – all of which are known to host malicious add-ons, scammers and fraud.
“ It’s clear that this behavior also impacts the risks and the perpetrators who target these groups,” the company says. Specifically, users in the education sector are 20 times more likely to be affected by black hat SEO than any other sector, twice as likely to visit malicious websites, and twice as likely to be affected by spyware and adware.
“Our research is trying to wake up companies in the education industry,” Carl Leonard, security analyst at Raytheon/Websense, said in a statement. There really does seem to be a lack of security awareness among students and staff in the education sector.
As a result, these users are not only twice as likely to visit dangerous or malicious sites compared to users in any other sector, but they are also twice as likely to be affected by spyware and adware when visiting unsafe software download sites.
These users are also 20 times more likely to encounter black hat SEO which, by its nature, allows the attacker to follow the steps needed for an online attack and facilitates a quick financial return.
Another interesting point worth mentioning from the sample studied is that although users in the educational sector demonstrate more risky behavior by visiting dangerous websites, certain threats are less likely to lead to an attack on these users.
For example, the financial services sector receives 400 percent more attacks using Geodo than other industries. On the other hand, education users are almost never attacked when using Geodo.
“The risk to business from this alarming lack of security training is enormous,” says Leonard. “Users are exposing their schools, departments, and companies to all sorts of viruses, malware, and attacks by visiting dangerous websites, putting their valuable assets at risk.”.
The important lesson for organizations in the education sector is to be aware of the threats affecting other companies in the industry, constantly monitor for signs of risk, and regularly educate their users and employees about the risks they face when accessing sites that are not secure.”
