Publicação
An assessment of web-based security services in higher education institutions of the eurozone´s leading economies: Germany, France, and Italy
| Resumo: | In an era of accelerated digital transformation, European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) face cybersecurity challenges due to heterogeneous adoption of Web security protocols. This thesis evaluates Web security practices (focusing on Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) security headers, and Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)) in HEIs in Germany, France, and Italy, the Eurozone’s three largest economies with substantial student populations. It maps adoption patterns, identifies gaps and vulnerabilities, and proposes a weighted scoring system to assess security maturity, along with a framework for implementation. Results indicate discrepancies in adoption and configuration: Germany shows higher DNSSEC adoption but low overall rates; France has moderate security header use with inconsistent HTTPS; Italy features frequent but weak security headers and low DNSSEC. These highlight the need for standardized practices to bolster resilience in European HEIs. This study contributes by assessing security postures, proposing a framework with implementation stages, and offering recommendations to enhance Web security in HEIs. |
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| Autores principais: | Costa Júnior, Jackson Barreto |
| Assunto: | DNSSEC adoption Higher education institution (HEI) HTTPS adoption SSL/TLS worst version adoption Security headers adoption Website security Adoção de DNSSEC Instituição de ensino superior (IES) Adoção de HTTPS Versões de Transport Layer Security (TLS) Adoção de cabeçalhos de segurança Segurança web |
| Ano: | 2025 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso embargado |
| Instituição associada: | Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório Científico IPVC |
| Resumo: | In an era of accelerated digital transformation, European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) face cybersecurity challenges due to heterogeneous adoption of Web security protocols. This thesis evaluates Web security practices (focusing on Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS), Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) security headers, and Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC)) in HEIs in Germany, France, and Italy, the Eurozone’s three largest economies with substantial student populations. It maps adoption patterns, identifies gaps and vulnerabilities, and proposes a weighted scoring system to assess security maturity, along with a framework for implementation. Results indicate discrepancies in adoption and configuration: Germany shows higher DNSSEC adoption but low overall rates; France has moderate security header use with inconsistent HTTPS; Italy features frequent but weak security headers and low DNSSEC. These highlight the need for standardized practices to bolster resilience in European HEIs. This study contributes by assessing security postures, proposing a framework with implementation stages, and offering recommendations to enhance Web security in HEIs. |
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