• 31.05.2024

CIS: The security of the academic network increased many times over



CIS: The security of the academic network increased many times over

Centre of the Information System at the University of Montenegro (CIS) implemented a firewall on the academic network on June 16, 2023, and at the beginning of 2024, we started moving sites behind the web application firewall (WAF), which increased the security of our network many times over. Our plan is to have all CIS-hosted sites behind WAF by the time of the collective vacation.

Web application firewall (WAF) represents an additional layer of protection for web applications. Its primary role is to monitor and filter HTTP/HTTPS traffic between the web application and the Internet. NWAF can identify and block attack attempts such as SQL injections, cross-site scripting (XSS) and other forms of cyber attacks. This level of protection allows us to quickly react to potential threats and protect the sensitive data of our users.

Given the increasing frequency of cyber attacks and the increased need to protect sensitive data, these steps are critical to ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of our information. Firewalls and WAFs function as the first line of defense against unauthorized access and malicious activity, and their implementation significantly reduces the risk of our systems being compromised.

Unfortunately, by crossing the network behind the firewall, it is no longer possible to import the academic email account to the web version of Gmail. The CIS infrastructure and equipment team has been trying to find a solution to make it work again, but unfortunately it is not possible without compromising security. In order for importing emails to the web version of Gmail to work, we would have to turn off the firewall for the email server, which would jeopardize the security of it, as well as of all accounts and emails located on it.

Please note that in the Gmail android app, adding an academic account works as it should. You can also use academic mail in all desktop clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, Mail on MacOS...)

In addition to these measures, we also implemented the Proxmox antispam solution, which significantly reduces the amount of unwanted mail (spam) that reaches your e-mail accounts. This system automatically filters potentially harmful or unwanted e-mails, further increasing the security of our communications.

We invite all users to be aware of the importance of cyber security and to support these measures. Users are also advised to regularly update their passwords, use complex combinations of letters, numbers and special characters, and be careful when opening emails from unknown senders. Your cooperation and awareness are critical to maintaining the safety of our academic environment.

 

Centre of the Information System, University of Montenegro

Photo source

Number of visits : 554


Ne propustite nijednu važnu vijest, pretplatite se na vijesti Akademski forum.