Abstract:

Climate change and cybersecurity are both significant society challenges faced by the higher education (HE) sector today. As we have increased our World Wide Web usage footprint, every time we send an email, use the Internet or social media, we contribute to a traceable ‘digital carbon footprint’ (DCF). Recent research estimates that the ICT sector is responsible for 1.4% of current global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and predicts the sector will be responsible for 1.97% of global emissions by 2030. DCF has grown exponentially, and as a result, so has the surface for digital attacks. This has given cybercriminals a vast network of information to leverage for carrying out increasingly targeted and effective attacks.

In this study, we endeavour to investigate the potential savings in GHG emissions that can be achieved through the proposed framework of IT cybersecurity policies and procedures to address the reduction of DCF in higher education institutions (HEI). The proposed framework of IT cybersecurity policies will apply to investigate the opportunity of awareness and behavioural interventions at IT departments in HEIs to reduce DCF. Moreover, this study delves fundamentally into aspects related to online education, such as the impact of the DCF on online education, and the reduction of GHG from contribution through the incorporation of the proposed framework of IT cybersecurity policies and strategies in HEIs. The authors in conclusion discuss various approaches that could be implemented in future collaborative practices in the HEIs to reduce its DCF derived from cybersecurity policies implementation.

Keywords:

HE, cybersecurity, digital carbon footprint, cyber-attack, IT security policies, greenhouse gas emission, online education.