Evaluation of Higher Learning Institutions Cybersecurity in tackling cybercrime: A review of University of Venda Information Communication Technology Officials

Cybersecurity remains the priority of higher learning institutions owing to the growing cyber deviance against institution infrastructure as well its constituents and the implications those have on the institution. This section evaluates the cybersecurity defences, security policies which the institutions have in place to prevent and respond to emerging cybercrimes. This case study evaluates, Univen Information Communication Technology (ICT) officials who hold the mandate to manage cybercrimes within the institution. It therefore, evaluates if Univen have institutional framework for managing cybersecurity risk. It also assesses if it has been efficient to counteract cybercrimes impact against the university and students. The study discovered that Univen doesn’t have cybersecurity policy that is knowledgeable and consumable by all students. Students don’t know of avenues to report cybercrime. The students are failing to observe the terms of updating password for student ITS and Microsoft account, making their systems vulnerable and susceptible to cyberattacks. Qualitative approach is applied in the study; purposive sampling is applied to sample five (5) Univen ICT officials. The research utilises the routine activities theory and differential association theory of crime as the study problem framework. Sample was selected based on their suitability of contributing towards research; Focus group discussions was held with sample participants to collect data and Thematic Content Analysis (TCA), was used to analyse qualitative data. Ethical considerations observed in this study include: voluntary participation, confidentiality, obtain ethical clearance to conduct data. The study made findings and recommendations that inform adoption of framework to manage cybercrimes within higher education institutions (HEI) of South Africa and offer alternatives programmes that can positively address cyber incidents within academia.