(21 Mar 2022) It will come as no surprise to those who work in higher education, or follow developments in the sector, that cyber-attacks are on the increase. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the UK reports that, since late February 2021, ransomware attacks on the UK’s education establishments, including schools, colleges, and universities, have increased. With library networks often on the front line, how aware are librarians of the threat posed by cybercrime and, crucially, do they know what steps to take if their network has been compromised?
Recent research from Shift Learning following a survey of over 250 librarians, commissioned by The Scholarly Networks Security Initiative (SNSI), shows that, even given the increased threat identified by the likes of NCSC, levels of understanding are worryingly mixed. Susie Winter has more to report here.
