Post-secondary and public schools are increasingly under threat from cyber attacks. With school networks growing, mobile device use rising and always-on connections now the expectation, attack surfaces have expanded exponentially. As a result, post-secondary and public schools can’t afford to piecemeal information security protection. Effective cyber security for schools must be purpose-built to meet current needs and deliver on emerging demands. Here’s how HALOCK can help.
Schools Face a Protection Paradox
As students and staff increasingly require on-demand access to educational tools and technology anytime, anywhere, malicious actors look for ways to capitalize on the proliferation of potential attack vectors. Add the budgetary constraints faced by many institutions and cyber security in the education sector becomes a constant battle as IT teams struggle to balance user needs with network security defense. While it’s possible to design in-house protection plans that effectively address this issue, complexity can quickly outpace even experienced IT team efforts. Managed school network security solutions from HALOCK can help bridge the gap.
Making the Grade
At HALOCK, we’re committed to delivering cyber security for universities, colleges and public schools that goes beyond the basics to provide end-to-end protection. Our services include:
- Security awareness trainingMake sure your staff members have the knowledge they need to identify potential threats and combat evolving cyber attacks with in-depth security awareness training.
- Policies and procedures Review and update your security management policies and procedures especially with an increase in remote learning and online course offerings. Ensure your networks and protocols are aligned and secure.
- Cybersecurity compliance Effective cyber security for schools depends on compliance. From PCI DSS for financial data processing and treasury office, Privacy for personal information, to HIPAA concerns around handling students’ personal and medical information, compliance services from HALOCK help ensure critical regulations are satisfied. Complying with PCI DSS v4.0 new requirements will take time to plan and implement. Review your PCI compliance now to best prepare for the transition.
- Compromise assessment Breaches happen. When they do, improving school network security depends on in-depth post-breach assessments to determine how cyber attacks happened, what was compromised and where security processes can be strengthened.
- Penetration testing Knowledge is power. Penetration testing from HALOCK helps your school discover where network vulnerabilities exist and take steps to close critical security gaps. Validate your controls are effective with internal or external network testing, wireless, web application, social engineering, assumed breach, adversary simulation, and remediation verification penetration tests.
- Incident response preparation Our incident readiness team helps your organization prepare for potential attacks by developing key policies and procedures to improve response times and reduce total costs. Enhance your incident response plan (IRP) for cyber insurance coverage. Learn how your network was compromised via a forensic analysis.
- Privacy complianceCyber security in public schools demands student data privacy. Though it’s not just about protecting key information — it’s about delivering the due diligence necessary to meet emerging compliance expectations. Know what private information you manage and where it is located to properly secure – conduct sensitive data scanning to ensure you have a current data inventory of sensitive information.
- Third-party risk management As schools rely on more sophisticated technology stacks, the third-party environment expands. A required best practice is to always conduct a supplier risk assessment to keep your vendors on point with your security posture. HALCOK can help reduce potential risks with complete vendor assessment and management solutions.
- Duty of Care Risk Assessments Duty of Care Risk Assessments (DoCRA) help establish reasonable security controls and are essential to demonstrate cyber security due diligence. Our experts work with your IT team to develop best-fit DoCRA policies and procedures. Conduct a risk assessment to strengthen your security profile.
- Security Engineering & Tools Ensure you have the proper infrastructure to defend sensitive data of your students, teacher, district, and more. Conduct security architecture reviews and implement threat monitoring programs to proactively secure against cyber security threats. Ensure you have the security safeguards required by compliance requirements like multi-factor authentication (MFA) or a web application firewall (WAF).
“Great job as always.”
– Top National University
Solving for School Network Security With HALOCK
At HALOCK, purpose drives protection. While schools share the same mandate for student success, the design and deployment of IT infrastructure vary significantly. Our education network security experts combine immediate campus needs with years of industry experience to deliver custom-built cyber security for schools capable of solving current issues and addressing future concerns. If you’re ready to improve educational protection with reasonable security as regulations require, talk to HALOCK today.
Learn about our comprehensive approach to risk with our Risk Management Program.
cybersecurity risk for higher education Reasonable Security is Defined
The Sedona Conference – an influential think tank that advises attorneys, regulators, and judges on challenging technical matters – released its Commentary on a Reasonable Security Test. The Commentary is the first document of its kind that provides the legal community with a clear definition of a “reasonable” security control.
HALOCK’s Chris Cronin was a co-author of Commentary on a Reasonable Security Test. To learn how to apply the test, contact us