Teaching methods have changed dramatically over the last few years, leading to numerous electronic resources entering the classroom. This makes school IT a formidable challenge—security experts have to juggle budget constraints with heavy traffic on the network due to a huge number of connected devices.

There is no stopping the use of technology to enhance student engagement and learning. Therefore, cybersecurity concerns are increasing along with K–12 schools’ dependence on technology.

While no network is impervious to assaults, a reliable and effective network security solution is crucial for safeguarding student data and decreasing districts’ vulnerability to data theft and sabotage.

The tools you select, and their respective performance levels, should be determined by your tech team’s budget and capabilities. Let’s outline the five tools that school tech departments need to be using.

Infrastructure and Configuration

Staying on top of network controls, flow, and operations is essential because unpatched network firmware is a common source of attacks. Network configuration helps set up and maintain networking devices, firmware, and software to block new exploits and fix bugs.

According to a recent Microsoft analysis, over the past two years, at least one attempted firmware assault has been made against 80 percent of organizations in the UK, US, Germany, Japan, and China.

Network Configuration Management (NCM) tools can help keep track of network devices by monitoring for unauthorized configuration changes and distributing firmware updates. Additionally, network administrators with better network visibility and control over the change workflow through NCM tools can both undo mistakes and prevent them.

Network Monitoring

Network monitoring tools analyze performance metrics and alert admins to anomalies. There are various brands that offer an overview of performance metrics such as latency, bandwidth usage, responsiveness, and network-based applications and devices.

You can enforce an acceptable use policy for all devices on your network and create automatic security by installing monitoring tools, such as firewalls and content filters.

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