York University has introduced mandatory cybersecurity awareness training for all faculty, staff and instructors.
The course consists of 13 modules that range from one to five minutes in duration. The program takes about one hour and completion is required by June 21.
The University has identified this training as crucial for ensuring the ongoing integrity of the University's information security. Human error remains the leading cause of data breaches globally. According to an annual IBM report, in Canada last year, the average cost of a data breach rose to $6.32 million.
Public institutions are facing increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks designed to bypass technical controls, such as the recent attacks on Memorial University and the Toronto Public Library, which shut those institutions down for months.
Additionally, the need for well-trained faculty and staff to act as an essential final line of defense was highlighted in the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario's recent "Value for Money" report. Mandatory awareness training (recommendation 10) was specifically identified as essential to reducing the risk to systems and to protecting "student and faculty data from external attackers."
The course is available to all faculty, staff and instructors via YU Learn by searching for "Cybersecurity Awareness for Faculty and Staff."
Because of the critical importance of this training, University Information Technology will be tracking completions numbers to ensure the entire community is equipped with the necessary skills.
More information, including an FAQ, is available on the Information Security website.
This story was originally featured in YFile, York University's community newsletter.
