Keeping Students Learning and Keeping Cyber Threats at Bay

Partner Success Story

Having an iPad in a classroom is a great learning tool. But having an iPad that a student can take home is even better. Except for one problem: if students connect these devices to an unsecure network, they risk downloading harmful malware. Malware that not only puts students at risk, but creates a massive resource strain for the IT department to debug the devices.

This was the challenge that Shawnee Heights School District 450, a public school district in Tecumseh, Kansas, faced when they issued an iPad to each of their 3,500 students. And while collaboration between students and teachers was important, the district also needed to keep students safe online.

Previously, the district used a proxy on each iPad that required authentication to filter Internet traffic. But it was too complicated for students to use, and for IT to manage.

Shawnee Heights IT found the perfect fit with Security Connector for iOS. The Cisco Security solution provides visibility into network traffic on iOS devices, and also blocks connections to malicious sites in real-time – at school and at home. Security Connector for iOS enables Shawnee Heights IT to address their security concerns in a solution that is both easy to manage and completely transparent to students.

And it’s working seamlessly. During a 30-day period, 23,000 out of 33.9 million Internet requests were successfully blocked due to security concerns. Now, students can easily access the resources they need to learn and collaborate without worrying about cyber attacks.

“Cisco security connector has been one of the best purchases we have made,” said Blair Anderson, IT Director at Shawnee Heights. “It gives me peace of mind knowing that our staff, students and devices are protected.”

Between safe and secure, there’s a bridge.

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Watch the Shawnee Heights School District Success Story

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