NETWORK SECURITY FOR EDUCATION PROVIDERS
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operations at Huntress, agrees that identity security must be central. “Enforce multifactor authentication, least privilege, timely deprovisioning and centralised logging so stolen credentials cannot give attackers easy lateral movement,” he says. Mat says education providers must think about building an internet safety framework. “This means implementing content filtering to automatically restrict inappropriate material and deploying threat prevention software to mitigate and prevent cyber threats,” he says. “Good cyber hygiene standards are a cost-effective way of improving network security, including the implementation of MFA and rigorous patching processes. “However, there needs to be a balance. If it is too restrictive, educators simply won’t use it; too open, and you risk attacks. This calls for communication between IT and end users to fully understand both sides’ needs.” Graham adds that as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies are common in UK schools, network security strategies must evolve to accommodate personal devices. “This includes secure onboarding, device-level access controls and network segmentation to prevent unauthorised access and data leakage,” he notes. Rachel adds that for most schools, the key element will be the firewall that sits at the entry point to the network – a unified security gateway that provides protection against all kinds of threats and secure access as well. “But it needs to be much more than that – WiFi access points and 5G routers will need to be protected and ideally someone will be keeping a constant watch over the network activity and security settings,” she says. “We’d usually recommend that a school makes use of a managed security service. From a partner perspective, providing not only the networking devices, but also the monitoring and management services that provide that added layer of comfort and security for a school, is the best way to approach the education market.”
Reseller conversations When talking to customers about network security, there are various topics that resellers should cover. Ed says the focus should be on outcomes rather than individual tools. “Reduced downtime, faster incident resolution and improved learning continuity,” he says. “They can emphasise how proactive monitoring supports network resilience, simplifies audits and demonstrates compliance through transparent SLA reporting. “Highlighting scalability and quick deployment is also important, particularly for multi-school environments that need central oversight but local autonomy. With budgets under pressure, predictable subscription models help schools modernise without large upfront costs.” Dray agrees that the focus should be on outcomes. “Explain how a solution reduces downtime, protects student data and meets regulator expectations, and include service level commitments for response and recovery,” he adds. “Offer identity services as part of the package including MFA rollout, account lifecycle management and user training so access risks are dealt with as part of the overall security posture.” Graham says that resellers should emphasise solutions that meet UK data protection requirements and align with Department for Education cyber security standards. “Offering managed services for continuous monitoring is a strong differentiator,” he says. “It is also important to demonstrate how the solution protects against ransomware and phishing attacks, which remain the most common threats facing schools and colleges. Highlighting BYOD support, such as secure integration of personal devices and scalable MDM, can be a key selling point.” VimalRaj adds that resellers should reiterate that, no matter how strong their cybersecurity posture is, a customer should have an incident plan in place and
Contributors
Ed Knight
paessler.com
Scott Rogers
uk.tdsynnex.com
Dray Agha
huntress.com
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