These cybersecurity solutions strengthen your security posture while shrinking your attack surface by focusing on your strongest — and weakest — links: your users.
Before the cloud, schools hosted everything on-premises. Servers, files, data — it all existed where users resided and where district IT teams could manage and secure it: locally.
Cloud users, conversely, rent space on a computer system that exists outside of the district’s walls. Because of this, IT leaders need to take a closer look at the security protections offered by the cloud providers with which they work. Whether it’s Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft or another provider, these services help schools manage their data but often provide only the most basic cybersecurity controls.
Because the data resides in the cloud, schools need to be more careful about protecting it. They need tools and cybersecurity solutions that offer visibility into their data as well as ample protection from bad actors.
Cloud Application Protections for Data and Student Mental Health
A cloud access security broker is another protection district leaders can implement. A CASB works like a middleman between the users and the cloud. It creates visibility and control into cloud platforms so the institution can ensure the policies they set on-premises are also being followed in their cloud environments.
This tool can also handle the encryption of sensitive data, perform data loss prevention and much more. For example, if a user — or an attacker using stuffed credentials — attempts to share vulnerable data, such as a Social Security number, the CASB would alert an administrator to review the data before sharing it.
CASBs are used in various industries’ IT environments, though K–12 has unique use cases and considerations when it comes to security. iBoss and ManagedMethods are two CASB providers specific to K–12 education, where school administrators often need to worry about student self-harm and cyberbullying.
A school-specific CASB will alert admins if students look up or write in their cloud files anything that indicates the potential for harm to themselves or others. This gives educators and school leaders better insights into students’ mental health, something a pharmacy or manufacturing company’s CASB wouldn’t necessarily provide.
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by Anthony Glowacki, EdTech Magazine
