GIS mapping and spatial analysis of cybersecurity attacks on a florida university

As the centers of knowledge, discovery, and intellectual exploration, US universities provide appealing cybersecurity targets. Cyberattack origin patterns and relationships are not evident until data is visualized in maps and tested with statistical models. The current cybersecurity threat detection software utilized by University of North Florida´s IT department records large amounts of attacks and attempted intrusions by the minute. This paper presents GIS mapping and spatial analysis of cybersecurity attacks on UNF. First, locations of cyberattack origins were detected by geographic Internet Protocol (GEO-IP) software. Second, GIS was used to map the cyberattack origin locations. Third, we used advanced spatial statistical analysis functions (exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial point pattern analysis) and R software to explore cyberattack patterns. The spatial perspective we promote is novel because there are few studies employing location analytics and spatial statistics in cyber-attack detection and prevention research.