Cyber security considerations for higher education providers

When a critical vulnerability emerges, having a hosting partner that understands what’s at stake, and takes on the full technical responsibility for your sites, makes all the difference.

The recent critical PHP vulnerability was a timely reminder that hosting is about more than uptime - it’s about having the right expertise behind your infrastructure when security matters most.

Having a trusted partner monitoring your EdTech stack means having the technical expertise and established processes to assess risk, prioritise remediation and apply security updates promptly.

Hosting providers need to understand the underlying infrastructure, manage dependencies and verify that updates are applied correctly, while balancing security with service continuity.

How quickly they respond to a security vulnerability is equally important.

“Security incidents don’t wait for convenient business hours,” said Alex Lawn, Catalyst IT Australia’s CEO. 

“Behind every successful response are people... it’s the coordination, the teamwork, the calm heads under pressure, and the genuine care everyone shows for our clients and each other.”

The right partner provides the expertise and operational discipline that many organisations may struggle to maintain in-house.

Why education providers need to be more concerned than ever

The education industry consistently ranks as the top target for cyber criminals in Australia and globally. With the large volumes of personally identifiable information that an organisation like a university holds, that’s no surprise. 

“Modern LMS platforms contain far more than course materials,” said Mr Lawn. 

“They often hold student and staff identities, assessment records, internal communications, enrolment metadata, API integrations, authentication pathways, and privileged administrative access into broader institutional systems.”

For universities and other secondary education providers, a single attack that exposes any data such as the above, can have a major business impact.

In 2022, a post-secondary student study in Canada reported that 46 per cent of students surveyed said it would influence their decision to attend a university or college if the school was known to have experienced a data breach. 

How to reduce your organisation’s cyber security risk

Understanding some of the most common scenarios of ‘what could go wrong’ is key when it comes to reducing the risk of cyber security incidents.  

Broadly speaking, software bugs, infrastructure issues and human involvement, are the three categories of risk to keep in mind, and there are measures you can put in place to reduce risk in each of the three. Check out this blog on Catalyst IT Australia’s website to learn what they are.

Is open source software secure?

One of the main myths that exists about open source software is that it’s less secure. However, being open to, used and supported by a large active global community of users, open source software is in fact better positioned when it comes to security. 

Moodle LMS, for example, is an open source learning management system trusted by hundreds of thousands of educational institutions and governments worldwide. 

Unlike proprietary software, where the code is hidden and can only be reviewed by a few people, Moodle’s open-source ethos ensures that its source code is constantly monitored by large numbers of people from the community. This means more eyes on the code so bugs can be detected and resolved quickly, reducing the impact of vulnerabilities.

You can learn more about Moodle LMS security and privacy here.

Who’s looking after your LMS?

A choice of vendor who manages your software is equally, if not more important than the product itself.  A trusted hosting partner provides the expertise and operational discipline that many organisations may struggle to maintain in-house.

“After the recent PHP vulnerability incident, our inbox was overflowing with messages from clients, thanking us for prompt response and for working around the clock to keep their sites safe,” said Mr Lawn. 

“Many clients mentioned that we were the first vendor to reach out and to deal with the situation. These messages mean a lot. Not because we're looking for a pat on the back, but because they reflect the trust our clients place in us, and the people who work hard every day to earn that trust.”

“We manage hundreds of PHP-based systems worldwide, taking full technical responsibility for our clients’ sites so they can focus on their strategic priorities with confidence and peace of mind.”

Don’t leave your LMS security to chance. When a critical vulnerability emerges, having a hosting partner that understands what’s at stake, and takes on the full technical responsibility for your sites, makes all the difference.

Catalyst IT is a team of 350-plus open source experts designing, hosting and supporting open source solutions for enterprise level and growing organisations, including universities, colleges and registered training organisations; as well as non-for-profits, corporates and government agencies. Catalyst IT is ISO 27001 certified and is a Premium Moodle Partner of 20+ years.

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