%PDF-1.3 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R ] /Count 1 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 48 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Creator (DOMPDF) /CreationDate (D:20240630120527+00'00') /ModDate (D:20240630120527+00'00') /Title (Report 06-2024) >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /Parent 3 0 R /Annots [ 12 0 R 14 0 R 16 0 R 18 0 R 20 0 R 22 0 R 24 0 R 26 0 R 28 0 R 30 0 R 32 0 R 34 0 R 36 0 R 38 0 R 40 0 R 42 0 R 44 0 R 46 0 R ] /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Length 7444 >> stream 0.702 0.800 0.816 rg 34.016 34.016 543.969 723.969 re f 1.000 1.000 1.000 rg 45.266 96.368 521.469 650.366 re f 0.773 0.773 0.773 RG 0.75 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 45.641 96.743 520.719 649.616 re S 0.773 0.773 0.773 rg 61.016 112.118 m 550.984 112.118 l 550.984 112.868 l 61.016 112.868 l f 0.200 0.200 0.200 rg BT 61.016 693.716 Td /F1 14.4 Tf [(THE \(RO\)BOTS ARE HERE)] TJ ET 0.400 0.400 0.400 rg BT 61.016 664.909 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [(Posted on )] TJ ET BT 104.045 664.909 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(January 01,1970)] TJ ET BT 173.588 664.909 Td /F2 9.0 Tf [( by )] TJ ET BT 188.096 664.909 Td /F3 9.0 Tf [(IT Communications)] TJ ET 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 61.016 637.420 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(For decades sci-fi movies have told us robots will take over the world one day. We don't have )] TJ ET BT 61.016 626.431 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(to prepare for a robot war just yet, but they are part ofour lives. We just don't realiseit.)] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 61.016 606.442 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Bots)] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 RG 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 605.291 m 79.025 605.291 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 79.025 606.442 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [( have been in the news recently; some, )] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 237.605 606.442 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(like Tay)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 237.605 605.291 m 268.610 605.291 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 268.610 606.442 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(, for the wrong reasons. But why all the )] TJ ET BT 61.016 595.453 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(fuss suddenly?)] TJ ET BT 61.016 575.464 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(One of the reason is the swiftimprovement of the artificial intelligence technology bots are )] TJ ET BT 61.016 564.475 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(powered with.Key Silicon Valley players Facebook, Google and )] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 318.128 564.475 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Telegram )] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 318.128 563.324 m 358.637 563.324 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 358.637 564.475 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(have been at the )] TJ ET BT 61.016 553.486 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(forefront of these developments. At Wednesday's F8 conference )] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 319.865 553.486 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Facebook)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 319.865 552.335 m 359.384 552.335 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 359.384 553.486 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(announcedthat )] TJ ET BT 61.016 542.497 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(were adding various bots, including a CNN bot, to their )] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 281.111 542.497 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Messenger)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 281.111 541.346 m 325.625 541.346 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 325.625 542.497 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [( app.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 522.508 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Most of us don't know what a bot is and what it does. Even though it sounds suspicious, a bot )] TJ ET BT 61.016 511.519 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(is merely software designed to automate and complete simple and repetitive tasks you would )] TJ ET BT 61.016 500.530 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(usually perform yourself.For example, adding appointments to your calendar or making )] TJ ET BT 61.016 489.541 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(reservations, ordering food, etc.If you were living in America, you'd be able to use the)] TJ ET 0.980 0.980 0.980 rg 404.897 498.332 0.000 0.000 re f 91.031 477.719 125.559 9.158 re f 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 404.897 489.541 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Taco )] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 404.897 488.390 m 427.406 488.390 l S BT 61.016 478.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Bell bot)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 477.401 m 91.031 477.401 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 91.031 478.552 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(to order and pay for your meal.)] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 61.016 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Chatterbots)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 457.412 m 107.537 457.412 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 107.537 458.563 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(or chatbots are used in messaging apps and to simulate conversationsvia )] TJ ET BT 61.016 447.574 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(auditory or textual methods. They are designed to engage in small talk and ideally they should )] TJ ET BT 61.016 436.585 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(convince the person on the other end thatthe program is human.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 416.596 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Large international companies Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, Renault and )] TJ ET BT 61.016 405.607 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Citron all use automated chatterbots. They canbe used to answer basic customer enquiries, a function a call centre )] TJ ET BT 61.016 394.618 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(agent might normally deal with, or to acquire information.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 374.629 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Other bots can help you schedule meetings by e-mail. The bot is added to your e-mail thread and continues the )] TJ ET BT 61.016 363.640 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(conversation needed to schedule a meeting.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 343.651 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Unfortunately, bots can be used for malicious purposes. For example, posing as a human in chat rooms to tempt users to )] TJ ET BT 61.016 332.662 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(divulge personal information.They can be found onYahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AOL Instant )] TJ ET BT 61.016 321.673 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Messenger and other instant messaging protocols.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 301.684 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Next time you send a chat message to someone at a call centre, you might be talking to Amy, the bot, not Amy, the )] TJ ET BT 61.016 290.695 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(human. We can confirm that all our own IT Service desk agents are 100% human.)] TJ ET BT 61.016 270.706 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(More recent articles on bots \(and robots!\):)] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 61.016 250.717 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Shopify acquires Kit, the artificially intelligent marketing bot)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 249.566 m 295.106 249.566 l S BT 61.016 239.728 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Hitachis cute new customer service robot seeks out lost customers)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 238.577 m 328.604 238.577 l S BT 61.016 228.739 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Fear the future: Donalddrumpfbot coming to Facebook Messenger)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 227.588 m 324.635 227.588 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 324.635 228.739 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 61.016 217.750 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Facebook's David Marcus explains how bots are going to change Messenger)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 216.599 m 367.367 216.599 l S BT 61.016 206.761 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(This personal shopping startup just launched one of the first Facebook Messenger bots)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 205.610 m 407.687 205.610 l S BT 61.016 195.772 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Facebook launches Messenger platform withchatbots)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 194.621 m 276.107 194.621 l S BT 61.016 184.783 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(Microsoft created a bot to auto-caption photos and it's going hilariously wrong)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 61.016 183.632 m 368.879 183.632 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 307.399 164.794 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [([SOURCES:)] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 359.410 164.794 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(http://www.recode.net)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 359.410 163.643 m 446.449 163.643 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 446.449 164.794 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(, )] TJ ET 0.373 0.169 0.255 rg BT 451.453 164.794 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(http://www.wikipedia.org)] TJ ET 0.18 w 0 J [ ] 0 d 451.453 163.643 m 548.482 163.643 l S 0.153 0.153 0.153 rg BT 548.482 164.794 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [(])] TJ ET BT 545.980 146.305 Td /F4 9.0 Tf [()] TJ ET 0.400 0.400 0.400 rg 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Meet your Computer User Area (CUA) Manager

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023

As registered students, you have access to a CUA and passionate staff to help you along your journey. It is a privilege to introduce them to you:

FHARGA: Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

 

FIRGA: Faculty of Engineering

 

GERGA: Faculty of Health Sciences

 

HUMARGA: Faculties of the Arts, Education, Law and Theology and Disability Unit

NARGA: Faculties of Science and AgriSciences

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Getting to know SUNLearn

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023

The first few weeks of being a first-year student at Stellenbosch University (SU) can be overwhelming. Getting to know how SUNLearn, the university’s electronic learning management system works – and familiarising yourself with the terminology that goes with it, can be daunting. We want to encourage you to stay calm and to reassure you that help and support are at hand!

SUNLearn has been in operation since 2014 and, through the years, it has been improved to make it increasingly accessible and user friendly for both staff and students to navigate. On top of that, the SUNLearn learning technology support team is in place to help students with all their queries.

In this article, we asked the people responsible for SUNLearn to take students on a welcome journey to understand the system so that they are able to use it and are better prepared for their academic year. We picked the brains of Dr Lianne Keiller – Manager: Learning Technology Systems and Morris Samuels – E-Learning Technical Officer at SU to answer some of the most frequently asked questions related to onboarding.

According to Dr Keiller and Mr Samuels, an important thing students need to note is that only students who have completed their registration process will have access to SUNLearn.

“We have found that sometimes students forget to complete their registrations at the beginning of the year; and then they start classes and realise they cannot get into SUNLearn and cannot access their content or their modules. So you have to be registered first before you will have access to SUNLEearn,” Dr Keiller said.

Below are some of the more common questions asked by first-year students at Stellenbosch University.

What, in a nutshell, is SUNLearn?

LIANNE KEILLER: SUNLearn is the name of the learning management system we use at Stellenbosch University. A learning management system (LMS) is an online space where a student can manage their learning and their interactions with their lecturers and with each other.

SUNLearn is where lecturers will upload all the content for a lecture, or they might even conduct a lecture on SUNLearn if they are doing it virtually. SUNLearn also allows the creation of spaces where students can talk to each other on discussion boards and can send private messages within the LMS. If a student is registered for a module, there is a SUNLearn space for it and the lecturer is the one who decides how to put things onto the module.

A number of lecturers make use of the SUNLearn system for tests or exams for the students to do online.

From an IT perspective, the SUNLearn system is supported by a small team which is dedicated to making sure that the student and lecturers’ experiences are as simple and easy as possible.

What is your message to students who are feeling overwhelmed at the thought of using the SUNLearn system?

MORRIS SAMUELS: Students should not be overwhelmed. Using SUNLearn is as easy as accessing any web page on the internet.

How do students access SUNLearn?

MORRIS SAMUELS: SUNLearn can be accessed via any web browser on a computer, mobile phone or tablet. In the address bar of the browser, type in learn.sun.ac.za and press ‘ENTER’. On the SUNLearn homepage, click on the ‘Log in’ link that is located in the top righthand corner to navigate to the ‘Single Sign-on login page where you will need to enter your username (student number) and the password set for it.

Alternatively, you can also access SUNLearn via the MY.SUN entry page by typing in my.sun.ac.za in the address bar of the browser. When the page opens you will be prompted to enter your network login credentials. Once you are logged in, locate the shortcut link for SUNLearn and click on it to open the SUNLearn Dashboard page where you should see all your registered modules. Most students access SUNLearn and other university systems via the MY.SUN entry page.

What should students do if they need support in using SUNLearn, or if they encounter problems?

MORRIS SAMUELS: The important thing for students to understand is that the IT help desk is there for general IT information and support, but, in terms of SUNLearn, there is a dedicated support team which falls under my leadership.

The SUNLearn learning technology support team deals with any queries related to SUNLearn. For example, if a student finds that a registered module is not listed on their course overview page or if, for some reason, they cannot access a module on SUNLearn, then the SUNLearn learning technology team is your port of call to report that.

How do students access the SUNLearn learning technology team to get help with a problem?

MORRIS SAMUELS: The correct way to get support is to log a ticket on the SUNLearn service desk. This should by using the portal at www.learnhelp.sun.ac.za. Alternatively, you can call the support desk on 021 808 2222.

If, for some reason, students struggle to log a ticket via the learnhelp.sun.ac.za portal, they can also send an email to learn@sun.ac.za to automatically log a ticket on our service desk.

What do students do if they’ve logged into SUNLearn but there is no content in the module or there are no notes or any activities in the module?

MORRIS SAMUELS: Lecturers are responsible for uploading the content and for the visibility of content in their modules on SUNLearn. Students with this problem should first contact the lecturer directly about uploading notes if there is nothing there and they expected to see something.

What does a student do if they are unable to log into SUNLearn; in other words, they are registered but unable to log in to SUNLearn.

MORRIS SAMUELS: If this happens, there may be a problem with your password or it needs to be updated on www.sun.ac.za/password.

On which of my devices can I access SUNLearn?

MORRIS SAMUELS: You can access SUNLearn on any device – your mobile device, your laptop or your tablet. There is also an app for the learning management system you can download from the Apple app store or Google Play store. SUNLearn is zero-rated. This means that it doesn’t use any of your mobile data to access the Moodle app (the system SUNLearn is built on) or the LMS via your mobile browser.

In a final word of advice to students, Mr Samuels had this to say: “First-year students, don’t call your mother, call us! We’ve had a few phone calls from mothers or fathers on behalf of students, who are sitting in class, struggling with SUNLearn. Don’t ask your parents to call us – rather call us yourselves. Our support services are easy to use and we are here to help.”

The online learning support page contains the full range of tips on logging in, loading print credits and other tips.

Also on the technology onboarding page, students can find information on how to connect to wifi on campus. Here is the direct link to that information: https://tech.sun.ac.za/faq/#step-11-apps-to-download. It is located under the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section on that page.

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Tidy up your tech before you leave

Thursday, December 15th, 2022

We are all looking forward to escaping for a well-deserved break over the December holiday season. But before you leave, there are a few things you can do now to ensure that your return is seamless.

Here are a few tips: 

  1. Activate your Out of Office function on your sun.ac.za Outlook mailbox and indicate in the message when you will be available again in case someone needs to contact you. Also, indicate who will be responsible during your time away and add their email address to your Out of Office.
  2. Make sure that your relevant work-related data is accessible for usage by your colleagues while you are away. However, do NOT give your password to colleagues when as this poses a security risk.
  3. If your sun password might expire during your holiday, rather change it before you go. If it expires while you are away you will be locked out of your account and it will cause unnecessary stress to deactivate it in January. 
  4. If you receive a phishing email on your sun account over the holiday and clicked on links or typed in your username and password, your account may be compromised. Immediately change your password at www.sun.ac.za/password and log a service request on the ICT Partner Portal. Your device will then be checked and scanned after the holiday. Remember that you can also report spam directly to Microsoft by using the handy Report Message function in Outlook.
  5. IT will be on skeleton staff between 15 December – 15 January 2023, even by saying that we will continue to deliver our services without any delays or disruption. Please log all requests on the Service Desk Portal.
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SU takes great leap forward into cloud era

Monday, October 24th, 2022

hand touching visual screen with icons floating above it

Stellenbosch University is currently in the process of taking a “great leap forward” into the “cloud” era, which will see the new finance and student systems, SUNFin and SUNStudent, operating in the cloud.

This is not only going to make all the difference to security against cyber threats but will also make the university’s systems more efficient and accessible, in a number of ways, for students and staff. The move into the cloud, which is the culmination of years of work, will take SU into an entirely different risk profile, said Marc-Allen Johnson, acting director IT Institutional Software Systems at SU.

“This is a big step in the right direction, as the threat of cyber fraud at universities is growing all the time, all over the world,” Mr Johnson said in an interview. To date, most of the university’s administrative systems have been housed on premises, in a data centre on campus. “But now they will be housed in the cloud, running in data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and according to the latest standards in technology, to ensure that the personal information of both students and staff remains secure,” Mr Johnson said.

“At the same time, once fully operational, it will be possible to access the systems from anywhere without having to be affected by loadshedding or interrupted internet connectivity on the Stellenbosch campus. So, we are providing a much-improved service, while ensuring a secure system.”

Elaborating on the two new systems, SUNFin and SUNStudent, Mr Johnson said SUNFin refers to the university’s new financial system. “It is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that SU will use to manage day-to-day business activities of the Finance capability within the organisation. It manages all the key financial requirements that a university has to fulfil to ensure that the books balance, that people get paid and that we manage our finances well. The implementation of the SUNFin project has been under way for the last two to three years.”

“SUNStudent refers to the new system that supports the Student Administration capability and all the related student services. The SUNStudent system will usher in a modern, integrated and cloud-based solution that will allow key university capabilities like Registration, Bursary Awards, Assessment and Degree Audits to be supported in a secure way. Although the staff and students have always had access to self-service functionality, the modernised interface provides it all levels. The new Application and Admission process went live in 2021 and facilitated a significant jump in the number of applicants and demographic.”

Mr Johnson said the university is planning to be fully operational with both systems by the end of next year. The application and admissions functionality of SUNStudent have already been live for two years.

He said that, for the IT team at the university, the new moves address “quite a few risks”. “We have legacy administrative systems of between 20 and 30 years old at the university. Through the years, the demands on these systems have been continuously growing and the world continues to throw security challenges our way. We’ve responded by making changes ourselves, but the technical debt has grown untenable over the years. Coupled with a technology that the industry is not actively pursuing anymore and people who have been part of building these systems retiring, it was necessary to make a leap.

“So, it is a great relief for me to see us moving into a new era where we are implementing software solutions that will last another 30 years. It is also exciting to know that, from now on, our system will be continuously improving and remain up to date.”

Part of the improved efficiency, he said, was the fact that the IT Division will work in close partnership with vendors like Oracle and Serosoft “to ensure that we have security by design”.

“We also know that we are not their only client, which means that we benefit from the collective. For instance, if they implement enhanced security measures, or conduct vulnerability tests for one client, they implement it for all of us. That is one of the benefits of going to the cloud –the vendor takes responsibility to keep the system up to date and secure according to a contract.”

Mr Johnson said that in the past many institutions bought software “off the shelves from a vendor” and then tried to maintain their systems themselves.

“But then they fall behind the latest versions and patches which opens them up to security risks. By moving to the cloud, Stellenbosch University will receive regular updates and be assisted regularly, and we will not fall behind as new functionalities are released.”

Mr Johnson said that the mechanisms implemented by the new systems will be a great deterrent to the ever-present cybersecurity threats.

“I recall a quote, often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, – “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance” – and it really rings true. With these new systems, we have invested in a solution that will continuously be kept up to date. Yes, along with the vendors, our team will have to be continuously vigilant, but it means newly discovered vulnerabilities will be quickly patched by our partners. We are contractually partnered with our vendors to provide that level of surety.”

Mr Johnson said once the system is up and running, “we will all sleep easier”.

“As the research shows, one of the most difficult IT challenges at any institution is to implement a new system. It involves a lot of change and the switchover from the one system to the other is a risk that can be easily exploited by people wanting to do harm.

“For instance, if cyber criminals know that a new system is being implemented, they could send out an email to a student or staff member and invite them to click on a link to be “onboarded” on the new system – potentially leading to compromised credentials. During this period of transition, we have to promote a heightened awareness and ensure we educate all students and staff about the risks. Our teams monitor and respond to phishing attacks like these that target our users. One of the measures that counter the reach of these attacks is to implement multi-factor authentication. For instance, when you log into the system, you receive a prompt to either supply a one-time PIN or approve the log in using a mobile app. For many staff and students, it feels like a burden, but that simple act is an important deterrent, because if someone gets hold of your username and password it makes it much harder to get past that hurdle.

“We can try to put in place as many security measures as we can, but if the attacker manages to use phishing techniques to trick a student or staff member to disclose their username or password, it could give the attacker access to sensitive information. This is a critical threat to administrative systems and something we are obviously concerned about, hence measures like Multi-factor Authentication.”

Mr Johnson continued: “SUNFin and SUNStudent will not only provide better functionality, to enable us to become a more modern and efficient university, but they will also make us more resilient to cyber-attacks. However, we really need everyone’s help to be vigilant by educating oneself and being on the lookout for suspicious messages. All students and staff are encouraged to reach out to us if they have any doubts or queries about suspicious emails or notifications they receive. Our IT support desks and relationship managers are there to assist, especially during this transition period to final implementation of SUNFin and SUNStudent.”

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Risks of cybersecurity have become massive in higher education sector globally

Monday, October 24th, 2022

hacker phishing scam

Universities around the world are facing ever increasing cybersecurity risks, particularly in the post-pandemic world – and Stellenbosch University is not immune to these threats. Even before Covid-19 struck, higher education institutions were already gathering vast amounts of data from students and staff – and now, with more hybrid and remote offerings, requiring even more information, the risks of cybersecurity have become massive.

The risks for these data rich institutions are wide ranging and include ransomware attacks, business email compromises, data and privacy breaches, as well as adversary-in-the-middle attacks, said Brian Mhembere, the Cybersecurity and Technology Risk Specialist in the ICT division at Stellenbosch University.

Brian, who has a background in IT in the banking, mining, health and financial services sectors, has seen and heard it all when it comes to cybercrimes. With his finger on the pulse of global cyber trends, and with first-hand experience of the havoc that cyber fraud can create, he has, in the past, been asked to share his expertise in interviews on television and on radio. He was even interviewed on the 8pm news on ETV ahead of Black Friday, where he warned South Africans of all that can go wrong when shopping online.

Now, as a key cyber “sleuth” at Stellenbosch University, he’s determined to ensure that the valuable student and research data stay safe.

“There have been a lot of data breaches in higher education institutions mainly through phishing attacks – attacks aimed at compromising personal identifiable data or to reveal personal sensitive information like credit card numbers, bank information or passwords,” he said in an interview.

Brian explained that ransomware attacks take place when a cybercriminal threatens to use technology to either publish or permanently block a victim’s personal data unless a ransom is paid. A data breach is a security violation, in which sensitive, protected or confidential data is copied, transmitted, viewed, stolen or used by an individual unauthorized to do so.

An adversary-in-the-middle attack is when an adversary intercepts communication channels between two components, with the aim of either altering the message or data, or compromising the integrity of the data a person is trying to transmit, with the result that the message reaches the intended recipient with altered information or configuration.

Brian was responsible for the recent cybersecurity maturity assessment and report on cybersecurity at the campus. The analysis was done using the ISO27001 standard and the National Information Security Technology (NIST) cyber-security framework, which uses a Capability Model Maturity (CMM) tool to analyse where the weaknesses lie in the whole IT environment. The CMM tool guides the analysis of the entire IT environment with controls mapping and scoring exposing gaps, in accordance with the ISO/IEC27001 standards.

“The report did not find anything out of trend with most universities around the world,” Brian said. “Our university falls in line with the current state of cybersecurity maturity of most other South African universities. There is still some work to be done to improve the cybersecurity of all these institutions. Our maturity is very low compared to universities in the UK and America, but better than that in some other countries in Africa.”

He said the audit was conducted during April and May 2022 and the report has not yet been published or made public.

“Even if we knew the findings, we would not make them public, because anyone who reads this article would know what our weaknesses are,” he said. “Even if SU had ever had an attack, we would not speak about it in the public domain. There have been attempts but we are able to monitor and protect most attacks.”

Brian said the issue of cybersecurity at the university keeps him on his toes, but this is nothing new. “When I was working as head of IT in one of the major private hospital groups, we had an incident with ransomware called Wanacry. One of our managers’ PC was encrypted by the hackers as she clicked on an attachment sent by email which contained some malicious code. Luckily, my office was right next to hers. I was able to run through and I saw her computer countdown times which said they were encrypting all her data on the computer unless she sent an amount in Bitcoin.

“We managed to quickly isolate her workstation and to disconnect it from the Internet, but it was too late to avoid the encryption on that workstation. However, we managed to prevent it from propagating through the network. We lost all the data on her machine, but because we had a good business continuity plan, we restored the data on her machine from our backups.”

In a humble deflection of his own vital role, Brian said: “This colleague saved the day. She followed all the awareness products we were pushing which is a major thing, as users are first and last in the line of defence. I have always placed a huge emphasis on user awareness and on campaigns to create what we call the the human firewall against cyber fraud.”

Brian, who grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe, has always been intrigued with information systems. He completed a Bachelor of Science, Honours degree in Information Systems, Diplomas in Telecoms Engineering, and Networking whilst working in various sectors. He is a Certified Information Security Manager from Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and has since completed a range of other cybersecurity certifications and, in 2018, completed a Masters in Information Systems from the University of Cape Town.

“This is really very interesting work, as well as being very important,” he said. “In the age of digital transformation, everything is moving online and onto the cloud. It’s exciting to be part of this huge transformation and to educate users on best practices.

“Of course it keeps me up at night,” he said, of his role at Stellenbosch University. “But thankfully, our current chief director of IT has prioritised cybersecurity at the campus. We both recognise how important it has become in today’s world, especially for universities relying on remote working which was necessitated by the pandemic.”

He said the IT division is assessing the findings of the university’s audit into cybersecurity and is now working on implementing the recommendations from the report so as to strengthen their security and control in the digital sphere.

Brian said he tries to keep up to speed on cybercrimes, locally and internationally. “Recently, Uber was hacked. There were data breaches, and the matter is still under investigation. Each incident teaches us lessons. We learn how they were compromised, what their vulnerabilities were – and we compare this with ourselves. We ask ourselves, ‘if this happened to us would we be able to defend ourselves?”

He also cited numerous recent articles on the subject of cybersecurity, particularly in higher education. Part of his job, he said, is to keep up to speed on all developments in cyber fraud, which involves reading research, articles and journals on the subject. During the interview, he gave figures and case studies from various studies, including the Bank of America, Checkpoint, Sophos and Verizon.

“For example, the IT security company, Sophos recently published its report, The State of Ransomware in Education 2022 in which they gave insights into the ‘ever more challenging attack environment’ in which the education sector finds itself,” he said.

“Key findings are that ransomware attacks on education have increased – 64 percent in higher education were hit in 2021. Education is the sector least able to stop data being encrypted in an attack – higher education reported the highest data encryption rate of all sectors at 74%.

“The study also found that … education has below average cyber insurance coverage rates – only 78% of education organisations have cyber insurance coverage against ransomware compared with the global average of 83%. Many education organisations are choosing to reduce the financial risk associated with such attacks by taking cyber insurance.”

Cybersecurity should be a priority project for SU, Brian said. “So much could go wrong when a university is targeted. For example, when data breaches happen with student admissions and other personal data, a university can be fined by the regulator in terms of the POPI act. If our systems are compromised, the university could be forced to pay a breach fine of up to R10 million – or ten years in jail.

“We need to be always searching for the gaps. Hackers work 24/7 and always come up with new ways to compromise and breach systems for corporate espionage, financial gain, or national security espionage. We have to keep abreast with what’s happening in the world as it filters back to us.

“I’m so glad that SU’s senior management has bought into the importance of cybersecurity. To have an organisation with a chief director of IT who gives her full support – from budgetary support to moral support – on the importance of cybersecurity is hugely valuable.”

Image credit: Thomaguery; Getty

 

 

 

 

 

 

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