Keeping Students Learning and Keeping Cyber Threats at Bay

Partner Success Story

Getting an iPad inside a classroom is a superb learning tool. But getting an iPad that the student may take home  is better still. Aside from one problem: if students connect these units for an unsecure network, they risk installing dangerous adware and spyware. Adware and spyware that does not only puts students in danger, but results in a massive resource strain for that IT department to debug the devices.

It was the task that Shawnee Heights School District 450, an open school district in Tecumseh, Kansas, faced once they issued an iPad to all of their 3,500 students. Even though collaboration between students and teachers was important, the district also required to keep students safe online.

Formerly, the district used a proxy on every iPad that needed authentication to filter Internet traffic. However it was too complicated for college students to make use of, as well as for IT to handle.

Shawnee Heights IT found the right match Security Connector for iOS. The Cisco Security solution provides visibility into network traffic on iOS devices, as well as blocks connections to malicious sites in tangible-time - in school and also at home. Security Connector for iOS enables Shawnee Heights IT  to deal with their security concerns inside a solution that's both simple to manage and completely transparent to students.

And it is working seamlessly. Throughout a 30-day period, 23,000 from 33.9 million Internet demands were effectively blocked because of security concerns.  Now, students can certainly connect to the sources they have to learn and collaborate without having to worry about cyber attacks.

“Cisco security connector continues to be among the best purchases we've made,” stated Blair Anderson, IT Director at Shawnee Heights. “It provides me with reassurance understanding that our staff, students and products are protected.”