The Pursuit of Knowledge: A Case Study on How Elite Universities Pose a Threat to National Cybersecurity

Abstract

This thesis investigates how the role of universities, as not only stewards of information but creators of it as well, have evolved with the advent of the Internet and the digital revolution. That evolution has brought about it an immense increase in access to data and information but also exposed huge vulnerabilities in the protection of that data. Due to the close partnership between academia and government, those vulnerabilities pose a significant risk to national security. I first begin by setting the baseline that universities, specifically elite research universities like Harvard, all have a stated mission of creating knowledge and education world leaders. To do so, they must be open centers of knowledge and information. A library is nothing if not a symbol of that. However, because of that open environment, securing that information from the outside becomes very difficult. This thesis then highlights the partnership that academia has forged with government to create knowledge, oftentimes for the advancement of national security. An example of this is the Manhattan project. The lines between academia and government become blurred yet the critical assets and information reside in both. This allows for outside attackers, specifically nation-states, to exploit academic vulnerabilities to access national security data. The final part is a case study hypothesizing on how nation-states can leverage the open nature of universities to access sensitive data. I finish by offering some suggestions on how universities can seek to secure the information that so readily flows through their environment.