Rutgers to spend up to $3M on cybersecurity

Rutgers University will spend between $2 million and $3 million dollars on cybersecurity this year, after being hacked at least four times during the last school year.

NJ.com reports that the school is working with three cybersecurity firms to help it shore up its security.

{mosads}The move comes in the midst of rising cyberattacks on universities.

While most attacks are thought to be motivated by the vast trove of valuable personal information that academic institutions have on file — like Social Security numbers and health records — other schools have seen individual staff members targeted.

Some of the cost of defending schools can be passed along to students.

Rutgers has said the new spending on cyber is part of the reason for a 2.3 percent rise in tuition and other fees for the 2015-2016 school year.

Officials say the new spending will become a permanent part of the school’s budget.

The University of Virginia revealed last week that hackers from China who infiltrated the school’s networks this month were targeting two specific employees at the school, “whose work has a connection to China.”

The university has links to the Department of Defense and other intelligence agencies. A school spokesman refused to identify the two employees or their departments.

Washington State University has also been a target. The school informed staff and students of a breach late last week, but said it found no evidence that sensitive data had been compromised. It said the perpetrators might have stolen university email account information.

Rutgers has engaged FishNet Security, Level 3 Communications and Imperva to identify and patch network vulnerabilities. The identity of the hacker or hackers remains unknown.