Security Management

EDUCAUSE has published the results of the 2008 Current Issues Survey, and this year Security edged out Funding IT as the top strategic challenge.

The latest EDUCAUSE Quarterly article, "Current Issues Survey Report, 2008", states:

The EDUCAUSE/Internet Security Task Force provided a briefing to the CSIS Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency on March 12, 2008, during the event "Improving Cybersecurity: Recommendations from Private Sector Experts". A 1-page summary of the briefing is available, as well as the complete transcript.

The EDUCAUSE Live! Spotlight on Identity Management series is a new, six-month series that will feature one or two speakers from a campus that have analyzed or solved a problem in a way that many people will find instructive.

Watch the video or listen to the podcast of Bruce Schneier's recent keynote speech, "Bruce Schneier on Information Security: Ten Trends", which was delivered at the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington on October 26, 2007.

You can also hear a 14 minute interview with Bruce Schneier. Listen in as he shares some insightful words about privacy along with interesting commentary about ethics, cybersecurity, and blogging.

A study of ERP security issues produced a checklist that shows institutions what to look for while letting vendors know what campuses consider important. Learn more about this in the recent EDUCAUSE Quarterly article, "A Security Checklist for ERP Implementations" by former Security Task Force co-chair Joy R. Hughes and co-author Robert Beer.

The Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division worked with subject matter experts from government, the private sector, and academia to develop an umbrella framework that establishes a national baseline representing the essential knowledge and skills IT security practitioners must have to perform their jobs. The IT Security EBK builds directly on established work and is not intended to represent a standard, directive, or policy by DHS. Instead, it further clarifies key IT security terms and concepts for well-defined competencies, identifies notional security roles, and defines primary functional perspectives to help advance the IT security training and certification landscape as we strive to ensure that we have the most qualified and appropriately trained IT security workforce possible.

The Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division worked with subject matter experts from government, the private sector, and academia to develop an umbrella framework that establishes a national baseline representing the essential knowledge and skills IT security practitioners must have to perform their jobs. The IT Security EBK builds directly on established work and is not intended to represent a standard, directive, or policy by DHS. Instead, it further clarifies key IT security terms and concepts for well-defined competencies, identifies notional security roles, and defines primary functional perspectives to help advance the IT security training and certification landscape as we strive to ensure that we have the most qualified and appropriately trained IT security workforce possible.

Security offices have always had occasional interactions with law enforcement either in the course of an investigation or through the need to respond to legal instruments. With the professionalization of hacking and the increased attention electronic communications receive with regard to national security, many security professionals find themselves working regularly with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. By having a positive and professional relationship with law enforcement, it is possible both to protect the privacy of your institution's community and to minimize the disruptive impact legally driven investigations can have. In this free August 15 EDUCAUSE Live! Web seminar, Working Effectively with Law Enforcement: How to Protect the Privacy of Your University Community Without Going to Jail, Michael A. Corn, director of security and information privacy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will offer practical recommendations based on his experiences.

Security remains a top strategic challenge according to the 2007 Current IT Issues Survey Report. The 2007 Current Issues Web site offers additional resources.

Which IT issues have the greatest strategic importance to higher education institutions today and which ones are likely to be important in the future? Find answers to these questions and learn about other current trends in the 2007 EDUCAUSE Current IT Issues Survey report, published in the current issue of EDUCAUSE Quarterly.

The 2007 survey gathered responses from 591 primary representatives (typcially CIOs) of EDUCAUSE member institutions, representing public and private and associate- through doctorate-granting institutions of all sizes.

Among this year's key findings:

• Funding IT re-emerges as a top challenge.
• Security and identity/access management split as separate issues.
• Course/learning management systems move into the top ten for the first time.
• Among issues expected to be more significant in the future, portals drop in rank from fifth to ninth.