Building a robust cyberthreat profile for institutions of higher educationd: an empirical analysis of external cyberattacks against a large University's computer network

This study investigated twelve categories of exploits targeting a large southern university to build a build a more robust cyberthreat profile for institutions of higher education. In one week, the university experienced 12.4 million external cyberattacks from 110 countries. Malware constituted 58%...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dollivera, Diana S. (Author)
Contributors: Ghazi-Tehrania, Adam K. ; Poorman, Kevin, T.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
In: International journal of law, crime and justice
Year: 2021, Volume: 66
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Cyberattacks
Cybersecurity
Universities
Malware
Routine Activity Theory
Description
Summary:This study investigated twelve categories of exploits targeting a large southern university to build a build a more robust cyberthreat profile for institutions of higher education. In one week, the university experienced 12.4 million external cyberattacks from 110 countries. Malware constituted 58% of all malicious activities. Attacks were statistically more likely to occur during the overnight hours of weekdays. Moreover, the majority of cyberattack activity was generated by a limited number of IP addresses originating from a handful of countries. Dutch-originating IP addresses were responsible for 71% of all cyberattacks in this study, and spyware attacks almost exclusively originated from a single IP address in the U.S.
ISSN:1756-0616
DOI:10.1016/j.ijlcj.2021.100484