Universities operate extraordinarily open network environments by institutional culture — supporting research collaboration, international partnerships, and student BYOD — while simultaneously holding federally funded research data under DFARS/CMMC obligations, protected health information in campus medical centres, and student records under FERPA, creating a multi-framework compliance burden unique to higher education. The FBI and CISA have repeatedly warned that US universities are targeted by nation-state actors seeking to steal research in areas including AI, quantum computing, aerospace, and biotechnology.
Related: FERPA · CMMC 2.0 · DIB · Schools · Research Computing