With the new school year just a few weeks away, there’s no better time for IT managers of school systems and educational networks to start preparing for the 2012/2013 school year.

While many teachers are busy preparing their syllabuses, cleaning and rearranging their classrooms and making sure they have all the right school supplies readily available, IT managers of the school system should also be making decisions to protect both their network computers and the students that use them.

Cloud Based Web Content Filtering Services Assures That Both Students And Computers Are Protected Against Internet Threats

In today’s day and age, just using a firewall isn’t enough to defend your school’s computer network against Internet threats such as websites that contain malware, viruses and other remote threats.

On July 30, 2012 it was reported that  87,596 new domains were registered and you can be certain that not all of these domains were published for legitimate purposes.

What A Firewall Isn’t Doing To Protect Your Computer Network

• Scanning unknown web URL’s for malware, viruses and other threats before allowing students to access content. Websites that are found to contain these remote threats will be seamlessly denied access by an off site policy server. This has become especially problematic with the use of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and other sites that allow users to post links to fake offers and other intriguing content that could put your network at risk.
• Providing a full access report of what websites students and personnel are visiting on a daily basis. IT managers can then review how their educational computer network is being used and make necessary changes to assure that it’s being used in the way that it’s been intended.
• Access rules that can be personalized based on department, grade level or other factors. Computer access is a lot like clothing - one size doesn’t always fit all. IT managers in school environments can offer different levels of access to administrators, teachers and students and enforce all of these rules from one centralized web interface. In the event that something needs to be changed, it can be done quickly and will go into effect immediately.
• Protects both laptop and desktop computers. While a firewall works to keep desktop computers from accessing certain websites, there’s no guarantee that kids using a laptop computer that isn’t connected to your local area network are following rules set forth by your Firewall. A SaaS based content filtering solution allows you to  enforce your network rules on laptop computers, even on a wireless connection.

Now that you know what your firewall isn’t doing to protect your educational network, it’s easy to see how a SaaS based URL content filtering solution can solve your problems by eliminating the need for an outdated system that wasn’t designed with the modern Internet in mind.

If you’d like to learn more about deploying a SaaS based web content filtering solution for your school district before fall classes begin, please feel free to give us a call at 1-877-270-7753 or start a LiveChat and someone will be happy to assist you with your questions and concerns.

Thanks for stopping by and we look forward to hearing from you!