Our previous blog explored the rapidly evolving cyber security landscape faced by UK higher education institutions and the unique challenges of managing their digital footprint. This blog explores what can be done to reduce these challenges and provides tips on how to stay ahead in an unpredictable and ever-changing world.
The Higher Education Security Challenge
UK universities and colleges operate in a particularly challenging security environment. Their networks must balance openness for academic collaboration whilst protecting sensitive research data and student information. Many institutions struggle with:
- Decentralised IT governance across departments and faculties
- Legacy systems alongside modern cloud infrastructure
- Complex third-party relationships with research partners
- Limited cyber security resources despite increasing threats
- Compliance requirements with GDPR, NCSC guidelines, and other frameworks
Let’s explore how a comprehensive Attack Surface Management (ASM) solution addresses these pain points and how cyber security teams within higher education institutions can use its features to better protect their online infrastructure.
Key Attack Surface Management Capabilities for Higher Education
Continuous Asset Discovery: Essential for Decentralised IT
For institutions where IT resources are managed at the department level, manually maintaining an accurate inventory across the entire estate is nearly impossible. “Shadow IT” is also a significant security concern for institutions of any size, as you can’t protect what you’re not aware of. The continuous asset discovery capabilities of Hexiosec’s Attack Surface Management solution helps reduce this risk by constantly scanning the online infrastructure and accurately recording new assets as they appear.
By identifying the true scale of your attack surface, you can locate previously unknown assets and bring them under security governance. This continuous discovery process is particularly valuable for institutions with decentralised IT management, as it ensures that no departmental server or research project portal is overlooked.
Vulnerability Prioritisation: Risk-Based Approaches Aligned with NCSC
The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) advocates for risk-based security approaches [1] (i.e. strategies for managing security that prioritise resources and actions based on the likelihood and impact of potential threats), however, many institutions struggle to implement this guidance effectively.
Attack Surface Management tools should include built-in vulnerability discovery that identify the areas of your infrastructure at risk, scoring them by severity. Hexiosec ASM also provides details on any Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEVs) to help prioritise remediating the vulnerabilities posing the greatest threat first are particularly valuable, especially to resource-constrained higher education IT teams.
Configuration Management: UK Standards Compliance
UK higher education institutions must adhere to various security standards, including Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, and sector-specific frameworks.
Hexiosec ASM provides comprehensive data on all issues it discovers, enables security teams to identify misconfigurations throughout the infrastructure. You can pinpoint where issues arise, comprehend their causes, and observe how they influence other systems. This visibility is essential for maintaining configurations that comply with UK security standards and for avoiding common pitfalls such as insecure default settings or unnecessary open ports.
Third-Party Risk Management: Critical for Research Partnerships
UK universities frequently collaborate with international research partners, commercial enterprises, and various vendors, each representing a potential security liability.
Hexiosec ASM’s non-intrusive scanning techniques make it ideal for assessing your supply chain and third-party connections without disrupting these crucial relationships. By understanding where your infrastructure interfaces with external entities, you can identify potential weak points in these connections and ensure partners maintain appropriate security standards.
In an era where research data represents both intellectual and financial value, protecting these collaborative environments is paramount. This is especially true given the dramatic rise in supply chain attacks over the last few years, as attackers exploit weak links in supply chains to take down multiple organisations simultaneously.
Cloud Security Posture: Supporting Digital Transformation
As UK higher education institutions increasingly migrate to cloud services like Microsoft 365, AWS, and specialised research platforms, maintaining visibility across hybrid environments becomes challenging.
Hexiosec ASM continuously monitors your public-facing assets with daily scan refreshes, ensuring you’re promptly alerted to new vulnerabilities as they emerge across both on-premises and cloud environments. This continuous monitoring provides peace of mind as your institution’s digital footprint evolves and gives you the insight to make changes quickly when new threats or vulnerabilities appear.
Implementing Effective Attack Surface Management
For higher education security teams looking to improve their security posture, Hexiosec ASM offers practical workflow integration:
- Discover the unknown: Map your complete attack surface with only your high-level domain or IP address, often revealing assets security teams weren’t aware existed.
- Explore the data in detail: Identify where issues exist within your infrastructure and how they interconnect.
- Understand your risks: Use severity and KEV information to focus on vulnerabilities posing the greatest threats to your institution’s operations
- Prioritise remediation: Group risks into actionable tasks using the built-in Kanban board, with automatic updates when risks are resolved.
- Continuously monitor: Benefit from daily scan refreshes to detect newly discovered vulnerabilities.
- Share your findings: Export concise PDF reports summarising key findings for leadership teams and departmental stakeholders.
Conclusion
UK higher education institutions face unique cyber security challenges, from decentralised IT governance to complex research partnerships. A comprehensive Attack Surface Management solution like Hexiosec ASM addresses these sector-specific needs by providing continuous discovery, risk-based prioritisation, and effective remediation workflows.
By implementing robust Attack Surface Management practices, institutions can better protect their digital assets while maintaining the open, collaborative environment essential to their academic mission.
For more information on how Hexiosec ASM can strengthen your institution’s security posture, register for our upcoming webinar alongside Jisc as we discuss the product and how Jisc’s Chest members can access exclusive terms and discounts.
Register for our upcoming launch webinar in collaboration with Jisc
on Thursday 5th June at 11:00am to learn more about this new agreement and how effective attack surface management can improve your organisation’s security.
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