Building a Robust Cyberthreat Profile for Institutions of Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis of External Cyberattacks Against a Large University's Computer Network

Building a Robust Cyberthreat Profile for Institutions of Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis of External Cyberattacks Against a Large University's Computer Network
Diana S. Dolliver, Adam Ghazi-Tehrani, Kevin T. Poorman
Publication Date
2021
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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.

 

Citation

Dolliver, D.S., Ghazi-Tehrani, A.K., & Poorman, K.T. (2021). Building a Robust Cyberthreat Profile for Institutions of Higher Education: An Empirical Analysis of External Cyberattacks Against a Large University's Computer Network. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 66, 100484.  doi: 10.1016/j.ijlcj.2021.100484