University homepage analysis
About
This is a small research project for a submission in my second univsersity subject. It is a script which should check common university websites in germany for SSL-Encryption.
You can execute the python script by installing python and running
python3 main.py
The list of the university URLs can be found here.
In an older version the ssl certificates got
checked without an api. This method contained some
bugs, so the api is used now. When you want to
still recode the code base to use the old code snippet,
you might need the certificate .pam list.
Please place it in the assets directory named cacert.pem
.
Abstract of the research subject
Abstract trasncribed to english language by DeepL.
Anyone who uses IT systems must expect threats. But in the current age, a digital infrastructure is unavoidable, especially for modern universities. So much data is generated at all times that it is no longer possible to analyse it manually. Scientific articles are published via digital services in pre- and post-print, submissions at universities are mostly digital, learning content is offered for download, video conferences - especially during the coronavirus pandemic - are held online and generative artificial intelligence is now even being used. At the same time, however, the threats posed by these same systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated. In the meantime, not just one university has fallen victim to cyber security incidents. Some systems at universities have already been encrypted by cyber criminals in order to shut down or even potentially destroy work and demand a ransom in return, attacks have been launched on university staff or students and many more attempts have been made to attack the infrastructure. So-called advanced persistent threats can also lead to major challenges. A successful attack can destroy decades of work, steal research, harm people and much more. This makes it essential to take a look at the IT security of universities.
Transparancy note
The list of university homepage URLs is generated by ChatGPT (GPT-3.5 model).
The abstract featured on this page is a copy of the submission's abstract, translated to the english language by DeepL.