University CISOs and IT professionals need to make the case that digital literacy isn't just a vital skill for administrators—cybersecurity education is also essential for faculty and students. By creating a culture of cybersecurity at every level of the institution, CISOs will show all key stakeholders—including alumni, donors, and government agencies—that they take the protection of student records, research data, and other types of sensitive information seriously. With this goal in mind, here are a few guidelines for building a culture of cybersecurity at your institution:

Keep administrators, faculty, and students engaged with relevant content. By demonstrating how human behavior (downloading malware, using school-issued devices on unsecured public WiFi, and so on) can lead to breaches, cybersecurity pros will show all relevant stakeholders how they can protect their institutions.
Respect your learners' time. Your cyber-awareness content should be developed and deployed with your audience in mind. From students who may be attending school and working simultaneously to professors with full course loads and research projects to complete, the people you're trying to reach are busy adults with limited bandwidth. This is why your educational content should be concise, engaging, and timely.
Objectively evaluate your cybersecurity awareness program. Just as students have to take tests and submit term papers, university CISOs and IT professionals are responsible for proving that their training content works. This means quizzing learners, conducting phishing tests, and rigorously monitoring cybersecurity performance at every level of the institution.

The cyberthreats faced by the higher education sector are only going to become more pressing in the coming years. It's fitting that a core part of the solution to this growing problem is education, and CISOs should take the lead in demonstrating this fact to their colleagues.

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