ZenGRC

GRC Software for Educational Institutions

ZenGRC is an IT risk management software tailored for educational institutions to help them navigate complex privacy and cybersecurity regulations—such as HIPAA, GDPR, NIST 800-171, and export controls—by automating risk assessments, prioritizing severe risks, and streamlining compliance workflows amid increasing threats like ransomware attacks targeting sensitive student, staff, and research data in an expanded remote learning environment.

The Regulatory Burden

Educational institutions face significant privacy and cybersecurity requirements due to the sensitive nature of the information they handle. This includes personal data about students, staff, research data, and proprietary secrets, some of which may have national security implications.

With the increase in remote learning and remote work for teachers and staff, educational infrastructure now extends beyond traditional school networks, increasing cybersecurity threats. Ransomware attacks against both higher education and K-12 institutions are on the rise, targeting computer systems, threatening to leak student data, or disrupting online classrooms. Protecting sensitive data and institutional infrastructure is imperative.

A variety of regulatory frameworks can help institutions manage this complexity, implement strong data privacy and cybersecurity programs, and promote the adoption of security best practices.

A Framework for Data Privacy Success

  • Standard privacy laws such as HIPAA and GDPR apply to personal data in school databases, including data about faculty, staff, contractors, and possibly parents.
  • Colleges and universities that bid on government research projects or accept federal financial aid must comply with NIST 800-171 security standards.
  • Projects related to military or national security may face export control restrictions, limiting access to project data for foreign nationals.

To organize risk management, protect data, and implement information security programs, institutions need automated solutions to streamline risk assessments and mitigation workflows.

ZenGRC is an IT risk management system designed for educational institutions. It helps prioritize severe risks, guiding compliance and risk teams on what actions to take and how to proceed. With built-in compliance and security frameworks, suggested risk and threat scores, and real-time connections between control assessments and risk scoring, ZenGRC provides a unified, real-time view of risk and compliance. This leads to efficiency gains, better protection for student, faculty, and staff data, and improved compliance.

Compliance Objectives

Educational institutions must use multiple frameworks to address security compliance and data privacy obligations.

  • The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Cybersecurity Assessment Tool helps map security controls to privacy rules for personal data.
  • The Institutions of Higher Education Compliance Framework assists in managing security related to federal financial aid.
  • NIST 800-171 applies to security on government contracts.
  • CISOs may use SOC 2 audits and remediation plans for commercial tech service vendors.

While these frameworks are helpful, managing them manually can become cumbersome. ZenGRC provides guidance and automated workflows to:

  • Assess the starting security posture of information systems and third parties
  • Establish and assign corrective steps to control owners
  • Identify security gaps to meet regulatory requirements
  • Monitor the progress of remediation efforts
  • Conduct new risk assessments as regulations evolve

Your Partner in Education Compliance Excellence

ZenGRC aims to empower educational institutions with the tools and guidance needed for compliance excellence.

FAQs for Education Industry

What are the key cybersecurity challenges for educational institutions?

According to the Educause IT Issues Panel, key technologies impacting cybersecurity in higher education include:

  • Cloud computing vendors
  • Endpoint monitoring and response
  • Two-factor authentication (2FA) and single sign-on (SSO)
  • Data integrity technology
  • Research security
  • Data privacy governance

What costs are associated with cyberattacks on educational institutions?

The Ponemon Institute reported that the average cost of data breaches in the education sector in 2022 was $3.86 million. Costs are mainly due to remediation and productivity loss during outages. For example, a ransomware attack on the Los Angeles Unified School District resulted in 2,000 student assessment records being posted on the dark web. Some institutions have paid ransoms to recover stolen data, such as the University of California San Francisco, which paid $1.14 million in Bitcoin in 2020.

How can educational institutions protect sensitive data?

Educational institutions have used large databases to manage data and governance programs, but data is no longer stored in a single, central location. User authentication, security patch management, firewalls, and anti-virus software must now be managed across a more complex IT environment. Despite this complexity, tasks should be managed centrally to ensure effective security and regulatory compliance.