Thanks to all faculty, staff, and contract employees who've participated thus far in the university's 2023 cybersecurity awareness training. Current training completion rates are:
* basic training for all faculty, staff, and contract employees: 84%
* key employee data protection: 100%
If you haven't completed the basic training as requested, please do so. The carrier for the university's cyber insurance coverage may increase our premium rates next winter if the university cannot demonstrate at least 90-95% completion rates for annual basic cybersecurity awareness training. The next round of university-wide cybersecurity training is tentatively scheduled for January 2024.
Insurance premium rates for higher education cyber insurance coverage have nearly tripled in the past few years because insurance providers are experiencing an increasing number of cyber insurance claims from colleges and universities. Fortunately, Hamline has maintained a relatively good record in demonstrating improved resilience against cybersecurity threats. Nevertheless, even Hamline's cyber insurance annual premium rates have climbed by tens of thousands of dollars since 2020.
Ransomware Risks Increasing
A ransomware cyber attack is intended to deny a user or an entire organization access to their digital files. Attackers attempt to encrypt these files and demand a ransom payment for decryption. The "bad actors" also frequently attempt to extort payments by threatening to harm the target organization by disclosing confidential data. Unfortunately, the frequency of attempted ransomware attacks is on the rise. Shockingly, 80% of K-12 schools and 79% of institutions of higher education reported that they were ransomware targets in the past year, up from 56% and 64%, respectively the previous year. Fortunately, not all of these attempted attacks were entirely successful. However, a recent cybersecurity industry study found that the average cost of a successful cybersecurity breach at colleges or universities between March 2022 and March 2023 was $3.7 million. Your sophistication in being alert to suspicious computer behavior and email requests is one of Hamline's key defenses against suffering an expensive ransomware claim.
