Investigation of Cyber Breach Vulnerabilities and Webpage Accessibilities with respective Counteractive Measures on Selected Ethiopian University Websites

This study investigates the causes of cyber security vulnerabilities and performances of website accessibilities in selected university websites of Ethiopia using vulnerability assessment and website auditing approaches. The research focuses on identifying the root causes of these vulnerabilities, which often lead to breaches in data security and privacy. Through a comprehensive analysis of selected university websites, the study uncovers common patterns and trends in security flaws. Also, this study aimed to assess the web accessibility of the selected universities in Ethiopia using three different evaluation tools: TAW, WAVE, and EIII Page Checker. The evaluation is based on the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Standards. The methodology involves a two-pronged approach: vulnerability assessment to identify potential weak points in the website’s security infrastructure, and website auditing to evaluate the overall web accessibility measures in place. The findings reveal a range of issues, from outdated software and poor password management to a lack of encryption and inadequate access controls. Plus, to this in during web accessibility almost all university are not satisfying WCAG web accessibility standards. Based on these findings, the study proposes counteractive measures tailored to the specific needs of each identified defects. These recommendations aim to strengthen the security posture of university websites, thereby protecting sensitive data and maintaining the trust of students, staff, and other stakeholders. The study underscores the importance of proactive cybersecurity practices in the higher education sector and provides a roadmap for universities to enhance their digital security with respect to ISO-IEC-27001 series standards. Furthermore, those countermeasures also extend to recommend the ways of improvement for those defected web accessibilities as per the WCAG-2 series guideline.