UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ACCUSED OF CYBER CRIME

28 September 2018

In a recent security report, which analysed 850 cyber-crimes against UK universities and colleges from 2017 to 2018, there was clear evidence to show that the cyber-attacks were often committed by disgruntled students or staff members within these organisations.

The report was conducted by the government-funded agency, Jisc, who discovered that the crimes were not being committed by professional hackers or organized crime groups, but instead the perpetrators were much closer to home.  This conclusion was made due to the attacks showing “clear patterns” of activity during term times, whilst attacks were reduced during holiday periods.

Dr John Chapman, the head of security operations at Jisc, who assists with providing technology services to the higher and further education field, stated:

“there is evidence to suggest that students and staff may well be responsible for many of the DDos (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks we see.”

In one of Jisc’s investigations they found what appeared to be a four-day cyber-attack on a university, discovering that the source of the attack originated from an online gamer living in the university’s halls of residence.

The discovery of the individual hacker is a rare find, as Dr John Chapman admits:

“It’s notoriously difficult to identify individual cyber-criminals”.

Although, Jisc and other cybersecurity agencies work to the best of their ability to discover the origins of the cyber-attacks, in order to protect organisations from financial and reputable catastrophe and loss.

Here at Three Graces Legal, we can assist your organisation with all aspects of cybersecurity.

Please contact us on 0151 659 1070