Internet Safety: How Students Can Protect Their Data While Studying Remotely

Remote learning has taken education to the next level. However, there is a growing concern around this digital shift.

How can students ensure online safety during e-learning?

Well, antivirus, ad blockers, and firewalls are common EPP features to ensure safety. However, personal devices often lack streamlined IP protection features, leaving students vulnerable to data theft.

In 2025, students will also be a soft target for cyber criminals. According to recent research by Zero Threat, ransomware attacks on educational institutions in 2025 have increased by 41%.

On that note, the endpoints like remote learning devices (personal laptops, PCs, etc.) used by students are the most vulnerable endpoints prone to threats. This article explores how students can evade the complex risks of infiltrating their remote learning landscapes.

The Reality: Student Data Is Under Attack

According to a 2025 study by SecureFrame, the average loss from a data breach event in 2025 is $4.88 million. In addition, 46% of the breaches in 2025 include personal identifiers like names, email IDs, social security IDs, and student reg. IDs, etc.

In one of the most prominent breach cases of 2025, PowerSchool, an edtech company, exposed personal data of more than 62 million students and almost 9.5 million teachers.

At this stage, it is no longer a corporate issue. Students use multiple personal devices, including IoT devices, today. They are almost always exposed to unsecured networks and logged into third-party platforms such as college portals, tutorial portals, reading clubs, and social media sites.

These log-ins secure their credentials so that they don’t have to repeat the process every time they enter these platforms. However, this convenience factor is opening the door for data theft, malicious surveillance, and even data fraud.

Why is Internet Safety Paramount for Students?

Remote learning is impossible without digital educational tools. The students use several such apps daily, starting from video conferencing platforms for online classes to cloud storage platforms to revisit the recorded classes or access the learning materials during remote learning sessions.

These platforms are paramount for students in the digital realm today. However, they also bear risks. If not used with proper security protocol, they can put the personal data of students at stake.

For additional safety, you can also save your data on external hard drives. This protects you from assured malware attacks. For example, after I write my paper, I try to save it on a hard disk and submit it to the college.

Why It Matters

• Academic Integrity: Even one compromised student account can lead to grade tampering or critical plagiarism accusations.
• Financial Safety: Students often secure their banking credentials and scholarship account details online.
• IP Protection: Your organic research, creative projects, and college reports are significant intellectual properties.
• Mental Health: Cyberbullying of students and doxxing can have a long-term mental toll.
• Access Continuity: If your account is hacked, it will lock you away from your learning platforms for a considerable period, hence harming your educational progress.

Top Online Threats Students Are Facing Today

Students are becoming victims of well-engineered online threats, owing to the evolving number and nature of cyber-crimes committed today.

1. Phishing Attacks and Social Engineering

Phishing emails are one of the most dangerous threats students face. They mimic the user interface of the university or college portals. If you are a non-native student in a top-tier nation for educational tourism, you might be a soft target for cyber criminals.

They will send you fake scholarship offers. Native students usually receive tech support to help them access the platform and its features seamlessly.

Such approaches fool the students easily. Once they click on any of these malware-infested links or share login details, thinking they are really from their college, the security will be compromised. In 2025, cyber criminals will use AI to clone apps and create automated IVR and chatbots to con students.

2. Malware from Unverified Sources

Students usually download free learning resources from anonymous online sources. However, unsecured sources may have malware embedded in them. These malware are fileless in 2025. Therefore, there is no way for students with low to moderate IT knowledge to detect such issues.

The primary objective of these attackers is to steal data, encrypt files, and spy on college activities.

3. Privacy Violations

Students aged between 18 and 22 usually overshare on social media. This data is sourced from Demand Sage's survey in 2025, which shows that students are often compromising their privacy, often without realizing it. Oversharing exposes their location, schedule, and even their educational course list.

Hackers can use such data for several amorous social engineering projects or for simply stalking and inflicting personal harm on them.

4. Public Wi-Fi

Most colleges offer public Wi-Fi services for students. Hackers can use campus Wi-Fi networks to steal students’ passwords. After that, hackers use the data to intercept crucial data, inject malware, and impersonate college websites by screening them with the students’ IDs.

5. Weak Passwords

Students often use simple passwords like “123456” across college portals, so that they don’t forget it on odd occasions. However, such practices are easy gateways for cyber attackers to get access to multiple student accounts. In 2025, such attacks on student credentials are on the rise.

Internet Safety Challenges and Solutions Summarized

Challenge	Impact	Solution
Phishing and Social Engineering	Credential theft, malware infection	Verify sources, use MFA, and avoid suspicious links
Malware from Downloads	Data loss, system compromise	Use an antivirus, scan files, and avoid unknown sources
Privacy Violations	Identity theft, reputational damage	Limit sharing, adjust privacy settings
Public Wi-Fi Risks	Data interception	Use VPN, avoid sensitive transactions
Weak Passwords	Account compromise	Use password managers, create strong passwords
Lack of Awareness	Vulnerability to new threats	Stay informed, attend security workshops

Best Practices for Remote Learners

Students are exposed to maximum cyber threats during remote learning. Therefore, this section focuses on some handy techniques and practices to help them make remote learning safer.

1. Learn Better Password Management

For students handling multiple college logins and social accounts, a password is the primary defense line. However, students are usually prone to using weak passwords or using the same password for all of their accounts.

Instead, they should use a strong password that is at least 12 characters long and mixes letters (different cases), numbers, and special characters. There are several free password manager tools to help you create and securely store passwords, too.

2. Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication adds a second security layer. So, it is a viable practice for the students. It involves a code being sent to you on your phone or an authenticating app.

When someone tries to steal your password, they won’t be able to access it without the help of this second factor. This is the reason why most universities now support MFA for their official college portals, remote learning platforms, cloud storage, and official college mailing platforms.

3. Using VPN

Any Virtual Private Network can be helpful for students. A VPN lets students encrypt their internet usage data and cyber footprints. Most importantly, it also hides their IP addresses. This is indispensable when they are accessing their LMS portals on public networks like campus Wi-Fi.

VPNs don’t allow hackers to snoop on their private data, such as digital footprints or login credentials. In addition, VPNs ensure that the connection between your IP and the university’s server is secured.

4. Keeping Endpoints Updated

Students use a lot of endpoints. It can range from their computers to their smartwatches. However, it is paramount for them to install the latest security patches for all devices and regularly update the software they use—ideally on a daily or at least weekly basis.

The best way to ensure updates is to enable “auto-update” wherever applicable. This easy step can keep away many hacking attacks.

5. Cautious Downloading

Students must not download files from anonymous sources. Imagine you are downloading a file from your college weblink. However, the webpage redirects you to an ad site and asks you to subscribe to it before you can download a file. Be cautious at that moment! It might be a mimicked website and not the real one.

6. Secured Home Network

Your personal Wi-Fi can also be vulnerable. You must change the router’s default password, allow WPA3 security, and turn off all forms of remote access when not needed daily.

It is best to create a separate network for doing all forms of schoolwork, including remote learning. Moreover, I suggest that students separate that network from all kinds of smart devices operated at home (IoT devices).

7. Correct Privacy Settings

As a student, you can ensure safety by reviewing the privacy settings on prominent platforms like Google, Zoom, etc. Even your university’s LMS app and portal. The first step is to limit who can check your profile, your shared files, and your latest activity list.

Also, turn off location recording and sharing for all respective platforms.

8. Do a Regular Data Backup

If you want to keep your information safe, keep it off the grid. Use a protected cloud storage for storing your assignments, research notes, or recorded classes (MP4s). This approach will effectively save you from creating multiple access points for cyber attackers to infiltrate your system whenever you log in to any platform, device, or learning application.

Advanced Role of Educational Institutions

The universities must play an innovative role in ensuring cybersecurity for students' personal information. Some of the latest practices that universities have lately followed are multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all portals, providing endpoint security software for student devices, running cybersecurity awareness training, securing campus Wi-Fi with WPA3 encryption, encrypting sensitive student data, establishing quick incident reporting channels, and conducting periodic security audits to identify and fix vulnerabilities.

Students, just follow the policies and align with the practices completely. If you are not sure about the protocols in place, contact your college buddy or session coordinator. Alternatively, visit the cybersecurity page of your university.

Featured Image by Freepik.