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Study by Panda Security has lesson for schools
26 March 2011 , Written by Dhruv Tanwar
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A study by cloud security company Panda Security has found that around 63 percent of schools have experienced malware outbreaks or unauthorized user access at least twice a year, making IT security management a resource and time intensive activity.

The inaugural Kindergarten-12 Education IT Security Study surveyed over 100 individuals who manage IT security at school_computersKindergarten-12 (K-12)school districts in the United States, evaluating security practices top concerns in schools and school districts. The survey found 64 percent of schools had experienced significant downtime, reporting at least two incidents in the last year. Schools also struggle to upgrade IT security systems, with 72 percent identifying budget constraints as the primary barrier to advancement, and 38 percent identifying a lack of staff for these initiatives. Twenty-nine percent indicate that the IT staff has other priorities that take precedent over IT security system upgrades.

Key concerns highlighted by the study include:

  • Security issues eat up staff time and divert attention from the business of education.
  • Even as ninety percent schools install anti-virus and/or anti-malware on computers, nearly 25 percent are yet to use firewalls, block high-risk websites or employ user authentication.
  • Social media remains a top concern for schools, even as the stringency of school policy varies greatly. While ninety-five percent of schools have a social media policy in place, citing the mitigation of malware-related risks as a main reason for implementation, twenty-nine percent allow students unlimited access to social media sites and 32 percent deny students' access altogether.
  • While schools recognize outside devices as introducing external risks, they struggle to fully integrate security policies for multiple devices, with eighty-two percent allowing students and staff to connect personal computers and laptops to the school network. However, only 74 percent schools monitor the use of external devices.
  • Schools see cloud computing as a means to improve IT infrastructure and recognize its benefits for security solutions, with 91 percent of IT administrators seeing value in cloud-based technologies and having plans to implement them in the next two years. Thus far, 32 percent have adopted cloud-based security solutions while 80 percent respondents identified improved security as a primary reason to implement cloud-based security.

In its list of to-do tasks, Panda Security recommends the following tips to optimize their security resources and improve levels of protection:

  • Invest in cloud-based security.
  • Require registration of outside devices.
  • Let technology do the leg work through managed security services, and
  • Monitor social media access.
  • Institute security awareness education programs.
 

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