3 Upcoming Cybersecurity Challenges in the Rapidly Growing E-Learning Industry

E-learning has been around for several years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the use of the Internet in education. Not only is e-learning being used by individuals looking to further their education, but it is also being used by universities, high schools, and elementary schools to educate students who cannot attend school physically.

Clearly, e-learning provides educational opportunities for students, educators, and trainees that were not available previously. The Internet has allowed education to reach a larger section of the population. This is clearly a positive thing.

Unfortunately, the Internet is also a venue for cyber-crime and illegal activities. This is dangerous because the information shared in the e-learning environment can be personal, confidential, or protected. The open, interconnected, and distributed nature of e-learning systems can expose confidential information to security issues.

Many E-learners are taking proactive steps to protect themselves, such as creating strong passwords for their e-learning accounts and using cybersecurity tools like VPNs. Even when precautions are taken, cybersecurity challenges exist. Let’s look at three upcoming cybersecurity challenges that the rapidly growing e-learning industry will face.

1. Phishing Scams and E-Learning Platforms

Phishing scams are one of the most popular types of cybercrime nowadays. Many countries reported a noticeable increase in phishing attacks ever since the pandemic’s outbreak. 

For example, the Australian Government reported over $1.3 million in losses due to COVID-19 themed phishing scams. With that in mind, the Australian Cyber Security Centre created some useful guidelines on how to protect yourself from phishing campaigns. Most Australians were already using some recommended cybersecurity tools such as password managers, properly encrypted VPN apps that work well in Australia (ie non-Chinese apps), installing antivirus software, and so on. But not all of them were immune to phishing scams, because they always come with a certain amount of truth.

There is no surprise that they have reached the e-learning environment. In fact, shortly after remote learning became a thing, phishing websites for Zoom and Google Classroom showed up.

Scores of domains related to Zoom were registered. Many of them were downright malicious. The same happened with Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. Users on the phishing pages unwittingly clicked on malicious URLs and were tricked into entering their login credentials, which were given to cyber criminals.

Some universities have created e-learning platforms. These platforms allow students and faculty to get access to important resources and academic services. There was an increase in attackers who targeted specific universities and who created phishing pages to steal information via fake academic log in pages.

There were also several fake emails created to steal credentials or just mess with students by telling them that classes had been canceled, that they had missed a meeting, or that some changes were needed to their accounts. Users were invited to click on links that led to them downloading dangerous threats.

Experts believe that the e-learning environment is just seeing the tip of the iceberg in what phishing scams can do. Cyber criminals are becoming adept at tricking students into giving up private information that puts them, their families, and the organizations they work with at risk.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning have given cyber criminals a tool they can use to create more sophisticated phishing scams. It is becoming harder for students to distinguish between emails and messages that are legitimate and those that are nefarious.

2. An Increased Use of DDoS Attacks

During the spring and summer months, universities were forced to go off-line and had classrooms and exams disrupted because of DDoS attacks. The trend began shortly after remote learning and is expected to accelerate as long as remote learning is a thing.

In fact, from January to June 2020, the number of DDoS attacks grew by 350 percent. The more organizations rely on e-learning and the more they rely on the Internet for regular activities, the more of a target these networks become for cyber criminals who want to disrupt the operations.

It is possible that DDoS attacks will become the new pulling of the fire alarm. Students who don’t want to take an exam or who just don’t want to go to school that day could use DDoS attacks as a way of attacking the school’s network and interrupting the education offered.

3. Exploiting Trust to Share Malware

E-learning has made it possible for diverse learners to receive an education outside of the traditional classroom experience. Webinars, face-to-face learning, and digital content have expanded opportunities for education.

E-learning works only if trust and engagement exist between the users of an e-learning platform. E-learning offers opportunities for asynchronous and synchronous learning. Synchronous learning happens in real time. There is a teacher interacting with a participant or a group of participants. Asynchronous learning is where the student can learn at their own pace and engage information without the help of a teacher or other participant.

Cyber criminals are becoming adept at exploiting the trust that is an integral part of e-learning. Not long after schools transitioned to remote learning, their cybersecurity structure was nonexistent or was not prepared to face the onslaught of cyber attacks it would face. This put online classrooms and students at risk.

In June 2020, Microsoft security intelligence stated that e-learning was responsible for 61 percent of the over seven million malware encounters experienced in 30 days. This is a lot more than is seen in other sectors.

Malware was not the only issue. Data breaches and privacy violations in e-learning have become commonplace. Zoom-bombing is a new term that was coined to describe how pranksters and malicious people where taking advantage of security weaknesses in Zoom to break into private meetings. There were reports of people breaking into virtual classrooms and making lewd comments and even streaming pornography.

Looking Forward

E-learning, once thought to be a short-term response to a global pandemic, seems poised to be here to stay

On the one hand, the pandemic has not ended. Millions of students are studying virtually or doing some mix of on premise and online study. Although a vaccine is on the horizon, the possibility exists that the virus will persist, leading to more school closures in the future.

Even when the pandemic is under control, most experts agree that e-learning will continue. Students are receiving benefits. Teachers can provide a higher level of education. There are several cost benefits to e-learning that make it likely to continue to be a thing.

However, as long as there is e-learning, there will be cyber criminals who will try to exploit it for their own gain. For this reason, it must be a priority for centers of e-learning to secure the online academic experience. Now is the time for centers of education to review their cybersecurity program and put measures in place to secure online learning for the future.