The University of Alabama resembles a small city, supporting hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, staff, researchers, healthcare providers and guests across a wide variety of systems and services. And that means UA is responsible for protecting many different types of sensitive information, including student records, healthcare information, financial and payment data, research data and criminal justice and other federally regulated information. Bad actors attempt to steal or manipulate data every day. That’s where the OIT security team comes in.
1. Not per day. Per hour.
Attempted cyberattacks against the University are relentless, so cybersecurity never rests. On average, UA’s cybersecurity tools block 1.7 million network events; 40,000 phishing and scam emails; 2,000 attempted account takeover events and 92,000 virus/malware events. Not per day. Per hour.
2. An ongoing investment for nearly two decades.
The University’s first chief information security officer was hired in 2009. Since then, UA has made significant investments in cybersecurity, building a robust program with advanced security tools and capabilities, and what began as a team of three has expanded to 15.
3. Students help keep UA data secure.
A student-staffed security operations center, in a workforce development partnership with TekStream, serves as a first line of defense for cyberattacks that are not initially blocked by UA’s tools. Eight students currently serve on the team, but it will double this fall. They resolve 21 incidents per day.
4. More than cybersecurity.
Information security is more than just cybersecurity. The OIT security team is responsible for IT compliance, IT governance, research security, identity and access management, secure system architecture and security operations. In other words, anything that ensures the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. The team manages and secures over 415,000 user accounts and secures around 50,000 devices.
5. AI: a unique challenge.
As a university classified Research 1 by Carnegie, UA faces a unique challenge with artificial intelligence: fostering innovation while protecting sensitive information. The University of Alabama is a center of discovery, where researchers, faculty and students are encouraged to explore new technologies and push the boundaries of knowledge. Effective AI governance at UA is not restricting innovation, but enabling the responsible use of AI with appropriate security, privacy and compliance safeguards.
More cybersecurity at UA .
The full story
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