Since its inception in 1898, Lanett City Schools has committed itself to providing a supportive, rigorous, and high-quality education to the Chambers County community. Nestled in southeastern Alabama, it’s home to roughly 950 students and 140 staff members — bus drivers and lunchroom workers included.
“Our elementary school is our largest campus,” said Whittany Nolen, the district’s Technology and Elementary Curriculum Coordinator. “We have about 600 kids there, and everyone else attends the middle and high school on campus.”
Although not the largest district in the state, Lanett City is certainly one of the most cloud-ready in all of Alabama. With several protective layers — and Nolen at the helm — Lanett City Schools is well-positioned to navigate cybersecurity risks of all shapes and sizes.
“I love the fact that it’s scanning our Google Drive to see if there are any malicious files. If there are, I can quarantine or delete them. I know Google does that, but it doesn’t catch everything. Cloud Monitor gives me an extra layer of security.”
Whittany Nolen,
Technology Director, Lanett City Schools
The Challenge
As strong as its security posture is today, Lanett City hasn’t gone unphased by the high volume of hackers threatening the K-12 school system. In fact, a 2019 malware attack forced the district to temporarily shut down all of its computer servers.
Consequently, Lanett City Schools chose to increase its cybersecurity budget moving forward. In turn, Nolen set off to find several new solutions, but especially one to protect their Google Workspace domain.
Fortunately, the district wasn’t starting from scratch. All instructional staff are trained annually on cybersecurity at the start of every school year, and once more around the beginning of the calendar year. To ensure the training works, Nolen runs monthly phishing campaigns to see which users are clicking on suspicious links.
“And if they click on my test,” she explained, “I send them a message that says they’ve been flagged. Then, they have to participate in another training session with me.”
It’s especially important that staff members understand best practices, Nolen added. Why? Because, as she puts it, staff members are our first line of defense.
“In a sense, all staff are responsible for cybersecurity because I hold them liable to ensure they’re not downloading anything,” she said. “But I can’t stop them from clicking on an attachment, and that’s why I have to do phishing campaigns.”
Previously, she approached cloud security on a “fix-it” basis. Every few months she’d audit the cloud for any malicious activity.
“I just didn’t have the capacity to scan all the content on everyone’s drive,” Nolen said. “I’d audit and run reports every few months, and if there was a spike in something high-risk, I’d investigate it. But even then, it was hard finding the time to focus on technology when you wear ten other hats.”
The Solution
“Without ManagedMethods, I wouldn’t have time to go look in my Google Admin console every day to check for risks. It’s not that I’m incapable of doing it — I just don’t have the time. I see it as working smarter, not harder.”
Whittany Nolen,
Technology Director, Lanett City Schools
Although she holds everyone to a high standard, overseeing security ultimately falls on Nolen’s shoulders. With over 1,000 combined users, that’s much easier said than done. Fortunately, that’s why she works with ManagedMethods.
“Without ManagedMethods, I wouldn’t have time to go look in my Google Admin console every day to check for risks,” she explained. “It’s not that I’m incapable of doing it — I just don’t have the time.”
Luckily, Cloud Monitor automates threat detection, helping Nolen uncover issues as they arise.
“I love the fact that it’s scanning our Google Drive to see if there are any malicious files,” she said. “If there are, I can quarantine or delete them. I know Google does that, but it doesn’t catch everything. Cloud Monitor gives me an extra layer of security.”
Nolen has especially enjoyed using the platform on top of her other cybersecurity systems. If one ever fails, she knows Cloud Monitor will be there to pick up risks that slip through the cracks.
“I see that as working smarter, not harder,” she said. “Because not everything is going to be 100% effective. We’re all going to have issues, but I do feel like Cloud Monitor has helped me be more efficient and proactive.”
For example, the platform recently alerted her about an unknown Google application she hadn’t set up. Nolen was on the phone with Google’s support line for four hours before they told her they couldn’t help.
“I was so frustrated. I didn’t want to sanction an app without knowing what it was and how it worked,” she said. “I was on the phone with ManagedMethods for not even two minutes before they showed me where to go and what to do.”
The Results
As part of her regular workflow, Nolen checks Cloud Monitor for suspicious logins. If she spots any, she immediately changes the passwords for all impacted accounts and notifies the individual.
She’s also been using the platform to enforce the district’s cyber safety policies, as required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
“I highly recommend Cloud Monitor,” she said. “Whether you’re a small or large district, it’d be foolish not to have something like this.”
Want to learn more about how Cloud Monitor could improve your district’s cybersecurity? Claim your free Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 security and safety audit today.
