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Higher education is a highly lucrative target for cybercriminals. Within a school’s network, there is a wealth of valuable information, including financial and research data. There are also connections to state and federal government networks, providing potential pathways to do further damage.
After two years of high-profile cyberattacks, most colleges and universities have increased their spending on cybersecurity. A study by Moody’s reported that higher-ed cybersecurity budgets have increased by more than 70% over the past five years.
However, these expenditures are still below industry averages for security outside of the academic environment—which means colleges and universities must be even more efficient with the dollars they spend to provide the protection needed.
“Universities have a responsibility to help protect the students, faculty, researchers, staff, and guests, that constitute the university ecosystem,” said Rob Belk, Principal, Cybersecurity Consulting, Ernst & Young LLP.
Protecting student and faculty data as well as the reputation of the academic institution is essential. Strong security measures are paramount to thwart attackers. Last year, nearly a thousand data breaches were reported at schools and colleges in the U.S., exposing more than 4.3 million records.
“Among all industries, the education sector is one of the least secure, and schools are the second most lucrative target for ransomware.”— Intel
Hackers used a vulnerability in a third-party connection to MOVEit file transfer software to install ransomware on school systems, infecting hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide. The map below shows how prevalent cyberattacks have become. This shows successful data breaches at higher education institutions in 2023.
SOURCE: Tableau Public Database
Sourcing and procuring cybersecurity service providers doesn’t have to be challenging. Let’s look at some education cooperative examples that demonstrate how the right procurement partner can help you streamline your process.
Educational purchasing cooperatives, such as E&I Cooperative Services, have procurement experts who understand the unique needs of higher education and focus on specific categories, like cybersecurity. This combination helps craft agreements that fit your institution and provide the managed security services you need to protect your assets.
Unlike generalized cybersecurity contracts, category experts help craft education-focused agreements to tailor the supplier RFP process, pricing models, and terms to the needs of higher education and research institutions.
Cooperative agreements combine the purchasing power of member institutions to achieve greater volume discounts than schools can generally negotiate on their own. This collective bargaining power creates economies of scale for providers, who can offer services at lower rates.
You get vetted suppliers and service providers that meet higher education standards while saving time and money.
At E&I Cooperative Services, all suppliers are competitively solicited, and members can choose to opt into cooperative agreements that are pre-negotiated.
Pooling procurement needs from multiple colleges and universities creates a more attractive value proposition for providers. In many cases, suppliers that might not answer an RFP or submit a bid for a single institution may respond favorably to these larger contracts. This gives you broader access to providers that otherwise might not respond.
You also gain access to top-tier providers who understand your needs, such as Gartner-recognized and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 leaders. You can find services such as:
Some providers also offer volume rebates, discounts for multi-year agreements, and discounts for pre-paid agreements to lower your costs even further.
So, what is the role of cybersecurity in education? You have an obligation to protect your school and its intellectual assets. Cybersecurity is the key to doing exactly that.
E&I Cooperative Services can help by leveraging aggregated spending across multiple higher education institutions to get cybersecurity services designed for academia while also reducing your costs.
E&I Cooperative Services is the only non-profit member-owned purchasing cooperative that focuses exclusively on education. Membership is free, and there is no obligation or minimum purchasing requirement.
Schools and universities can review ready-to-use contracts for goods and services and opt in at their discretion. E&I Cooperative Services negotiates contracts using the aggregated buying power of its 6,000 member institutions, helping procurement teams find optimal solutions and achieve best-in-class pricing.
Contact E&I Cooperative Services or view available contracts by searching under the Information Technology (IT) menu for Cybersecurity Services.
