An Empirical Analysis on Cyber Security Policies and Guidelines for Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Cyber security threats are on high time rise in the current setup of educational systems. There are a lot of naive users in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) who are unaware of the security standards and guidelines which further add to this vulnerable situation. This work is primarily focused on understanding the current needs of security standards, their implementation and establishment of cyber security guidelines for HEIs. The research was carried out in accordance with a detailed survey that was conducted across universities and the collected data was analysed which unfolded loopholes in the security system. A gap analysis is presented which depicts lack of knowledge among the students and faculty regarding information security policies of the institution as drafted by the security administrator. In addition to this, a comprehensive list of guidelines and policies has been presented which should be used in order to overcome these issues.