Cyber attacks a growing problem for Canadian universities

Coders like to tell a joke. There are two types of people, it goes: those who have been hacked, and those who are about to be hacked.

The quip is telling: cyber attacks, from Nigerian email scams to sophisticated Chinese phishing operations, are a fact of life online. Whether you’re a teenager with a laptop or a big bank with complicated servers, you likely are not immune to hacking.

Postsecondary institutions are particularly — and increasingly — targeted by hackers, IT specialists, intelligence agencies and universities say.

Now, with cyber attacks on the rise, schools are trying to protect not only valuable research in fields like biochemistry and engineering, but the vaunted culture of openness that makes universities unique.

SOURCE: thestar.com