Education has transformed significantly in recent years. Today, cloud platforms are prevalent: Over 90% of U.S. school districts use services such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. These tools enable efficient collaboration and resource management at lower costs.
However, cloud adoption introduces distinct security challenges. District IT teams must address risks like unauthorized access, data leaks, and compliance gaps inherent to cloud environments.
Data loss prevention (DLP) software mitigates these risks by monitoring and securing sensitive content. For schools, this technology helps balance innovation with secure operations.
About Google DLP: Securing your cloud data in Google Workspace
Cloud data loss prevention is the strategic process of protecting data that organizations place in cloud storage. It prevents sensitive data that users create or store on any cloud service — such as Google Workspace — from accidentally or intentionally leaving the school district.
Cloud DLP builds on two existing DLP tools: endpoint DLP and network DLP. How do they compare? In simple terms, each protects data in a different environment:
- Endpoint: This DLP solution protects data on endpoint devices, such as computers, smartphones, and tablets.
- Network: This DLP software focuses on communications within the network, defending against unauthorized access from outside or between different parts of the network.
- Cloud: Because applications like Google Workspace aren’t part of your local network, you need cloud DLP to monitor and secure data in the cloud, including Gmail, Google Drive, and Google.
How to protect data in your Google Cloud environment
A near-native solution for Google cloud data loss prevention helps you optimize your district’s cloud security stack and improve overall data protection. To understand how Google Cloud DLP works, let’s examine how your cloud infrastructure protects data at each point.
Data creation
Once you create data in Google Workspace, cloud DLP security solutions recognize it. They then classify the data by sensitivity level using keyword or regex matching policies, image recognition, and machine learning algorithms. In simpler terms, the DLP solution categorizes data by its risk level (for example, personal, financial, or medical information), which helps prioritize data protection and secure the most sensitive content.
Data at rest
After you classify the data, you can apply DLP rules as needed. For example, you can allow Google Docs access to users — students, faculty, or other staff — based on its content.
Data in motion
Continuing with the Google Docs example, what happens if someone shares that document outside the district? Your software automatically flags this as a DLP policy violation and quarantines the document until further review.
This applies to other Google Workspace applications as well, including Gmail and Google Chat. For instance, if someone attaches a file containing sensitive information to an email, the system detects the violation and either notifies you for quick remediation or remediates automatically, depending on your DLP policy.
Data in use
Content-aware cloud DLP scans your Google environment in real time for policy violations in documents that users access, use, update, or read. For example, if students share personally identifiable information within a Google Doc, the system immediately flags it and creates an incident report for prompt resolution.
This approach also helps districts concerned about inappropriate behavior in Google Slides, Chat, Shared Drives, or Gmail, including cyberbullying, sharing explicit content, discussing suicide, or other pressing safety-related issues.
Benefits of a Google cloud DLP solution
A Google cloud DLP solution offers several key advantages for data protection:
- Deep integration with Google Workspace applications for improved cloud security
- The ability to audit historical data and categorize it by sensitivity
- Automated scanning of your Google domain — such as Gmail and Drive — to identify threats
- 24/7 monitoring of both Google and third-party applications to mitigate risks in near real time
- Enhanced enforcement of DLP rules throughout the district
Why you need to protect your Google Cloud environment
As a leading technology provider, Google unsurprisingly offers the most widely used cloud app in education: Google Workspace. More than half of all K-12 schools use Google Workspace in some capacity, yet only 20% of cybersecurity budgets go toward securing cloud data. This discrepancy leaves many districts vulnerable to unauthorized access to sensitive information — a significant threat to student safety and regulatory compliance.
Furthermore, cloud data has become a lucrative target for cybercriminals. According to K12 SIX, data breaches make up 36% of all school cyberattacks, and that figure barely scratches the surface. For example, in 2021, ransomware attackers stole student and employee data from Florida’s Broward County School District, demanded a $10 million ransom, and then released 26,000 files online, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
More recently, a 2024 U.S. Department of Homeland Security threat assessment report states that K‑12 districts have been “a near constant ransomware target.” The agency attributes this trend to resource constraints in school IT departments and cybercriminals’ success in obtaining ransom payments from schools.
What does this mean for your district? Simply put, your data is at risk. To protect it effectively, you need more than a generic DLP solution — you need a near-native Google cloud DLP tool specifically for Google Workspace.
Best practices for Google Cloud apps
Now that you understand cloud DLP, let’s explore the best ways to keep every cloud app in your district secure. Here are some key Google data loss prevention best practices:
- Set access controls and user permissions: These rules determine who can access specific types of data and how they can use or share them, both inside and outside the district — a key step in any cloud environment.
- Define DLP actions: Predetermined actions automatically address risks when users violate DLP rules. You can set up alerts for admins, un-share files that have been externally shared, warn end users, and more.
- Audit your infrastructure: Conduct regular audits of your Google domain to evaluate your data protection efforts and identify potential vulnerabilities.
Secure your district’s infrastructure
Deploying a Google cloud DLP solution is one of the best ways to protect student data from unauthorized access. At ManagedMethods, our out-of-the-box cloud security platform comes fully equipped with everything you need to maintain visibility over your cloud environment.
With Cloud Monitor by ManagedMethods, your district gains a near-native Google DLP solution that seamlessly integrates with Google Workspace. It automatically detects and remediates risky data exposures in real time — without impacting users or classroom activities. Plus, its intuitive dashboards and policy templates help busy IT teams stay ahead of potential threats and compliance obligations.
Speaking on this, Arbor Park School District 145’s Chief Technology Officer, David Termunde, said, “Cloud Monitor is proactive and easy to use, compared to Microsoft’s native tools that are more reactive. It’s like having an additional employee on my team. We used to have to investigate an issue that we already knew about, and had to try to find information related to the problem. Now, Cloud Monitor gives us a heads-up that something is happening so we can get ahead of it before it’s a problem.”
Learn more about how to protect your Google Workspace for Education services by scheduling a free Cloud Monitor demo today.
