Higher Education Cybersecurity: A Vulnerability Assessment of the U.S. South’s Institutional Websites

As technology continues to advance, it is critical to understand how higher education institutions protect digital information of their stakeholders including students, faculty, and staff through cybersecurity measures. Although conceptual research has articulated various aspects of cybersecurity, no empirical research has explored the cybersecurity of higher education (.edu) websites through a vulnerability scan of these websites via an open PortScan and analysis. To fill a critical gap in the literature, this study conducted a vulnerability scan and open PortScan and analysis of all higher education websites in three of the lowest-income states in the United States: Louisiana (n=112), Mississippi (n=52), and Alabama (n=77) to explore whether institutional websites have open ports and whether these open ports may pose a cybersecurity risk to institutional stakeholders. Data suggests Louisiana institutions may be least cybersecure, with Louisiana and Mississippi institutions relying more on alternative web service ports, increasing the opportunities for a cyberattack. Moreover, larger institutions by enrollment typically had greater numbers of open ports, suggesting that larger institutions may publish larger websites and thus may face increased cybersecurity challenges. Implications for research, policy, and practice are addressed.