THE Journal — Security/Privacy
Clarkston Schools Deploys iTrust To Secure Internet Usage
Clarkston Community Schools has selected DeepNines iTrust, a multi-layer security defense system that guards against unauthorized Internet usage while prioritizing network traffic.
(4/8/2008)
Baltimore Deploys Parent Notification Program
Baltimore City Public Schools this month announced that it has implemented Global Connect's Parent Notification System for communicating with parents and staff members. The school district, which serves about 82,000 students, will begin using the Global Connect system in May.
(4/7/2008)
Cypress-Fairbanks Deploys Network Monitoring Tool
Network management software developer Ipswitch announced that the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (CFISD), a large public school district in the state of Texas, has selected WhatsUp Gold to monitor and manage its wide area network (WAN) infrastructure.
(4/4/2008)
Honeywell Survey Shows Security Convergence Popular but Elusive
A survey by Honeywell released Wednesday reveals that although some organizations are integrating physical security measures such as video surveillance and access control with traditional IT security system, significant barriers to convergence still exist.
(4/2/2008)
Microsoft Joins MIT Kerberos Consortium
The MIT Kerberos Consortium has added Microsoft to its ranks of formal industry supporters. The company joined the group Monday as a founding sponsor, gaining a seat on the executive board, which also includes representatives from Apple, Sun, Google, and, of course, MIT itself. Microsoft's director of Windows Core Security, Slava Kavsan, will occupy the board seat.
(4/1/2008)
Compliance Framework Database Updated
Consulting and publishing firm Network Frontiers has released the Q1 2008 Unified Compliance Framework (UCF), a database used in compliance management systems. UCF maps hundreds of regulations, including privacy information, HIPPA, PCI-DDS and Medicaid/Medicare mandates, into a master hierarchal framework. This latest version of the UCF consolidates cross platform configuration management controls into a single set of controls.
(3/31/2008)
Crossroads Debuts Backup Encryption Module
Information security provider Crossroads Systems this week released a new encryption module for its Crossroads Virtual TapeServer. The module, SecureVTS, is an integrated solution that provides security for backed-up data for compliance and business continuity.
(3/28/2008)
Web Gateway Offers All-in-One Web Security
Astaro Corp. has announced a security appliance line that integrates URL filtering, malware detection, application control, and bandwidth optimization. The Astaro Web Gateway is deployed as a hardware or virtualized appliance and managed through a single browser-based graphical interface.
(3/25/2008)
Vantage, 8e6 Partner for Safe Search for Schools
Ed tech developer Vantage Learning and security technology provider 8e6 have teamed up to launch a new secure Internet search engine designed specifically for K-12 school districts. The partnership combines Vantage's iSEEK "natural language" search engine with 8e6's Web filtering to provide targeted searches for academic users while excluding material that might be deemed potentially inappropriate for school-aged kids.
(3/24/2008)
Free Software Identifies Applications Requiring Administrator Rights
Enterprises can now more easily determine which applications their employees run that require administrative rights, a condition that makes the environment more susceptible to malicious users and viruses and prevents compliance with regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and HIPAA. BeyondTrust’s free Application Rights Auditor automatically identifies and reports Windows applications that need elevated user rights.
(3/21/2008)
IBM Addresses Web 2.0 Security Concerns With 'SMash'
IBM announced new technology to secure "mashups," Web applications that pull information from multiple sources, such as Web sites, enterprise databases, or e-mails, to create one unified view. Mashups allow users to gain insight on complex situations but, as with all Web-based initiatives, security has been a concern.
(3/18/2008)
Video Surveillance Joins Blackboard Commerce Suite
Ed tech developer Blackboard this week launched a new video surveillance solution for its campus management system called Blackboard Video Surveillance. The new tool, announced at BbWorld Commerce conference in Phoenix, AZ March 10, will become part of the Blackboard Commerce Suite, a payment and security management system designed for education.
(3/12/2008)
A White Hat Talks about Modern Malware
When Julie Amero was convicted of four counts of risk of injury to a minor in Connecticut last year, it was a wake-up call for many schools to make sure their anti-virus and anti-spyware software was kept up to date. Amero was the substitute teacher who had chased students off of the regular teacher's computer and taken charge of the computer, on which pornographic images then allegedly started appearing. (Since then her conviction has been vacated, and she awaits a new trial.)
(3/11/2008)
Toronto District Installs VPN Appliance To Speed Remote Report Card Application Access
The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) has deployed a remote access program from Juniper Networks to manage teacher and staff access to a Web-based report card system from remote locations. The Juniper Networks SA 6000 SSL VPN 6000 appliance, designed for large and multinational enterprises, features a secure socket layer (SSL) acceleration chipset to speed CPU-intensive encrypt/decrypt processes.
(3/11/2008)
Chicago Schools, Police To Share School Security Camera Video
Chicago Public Schools and city administrators have agreed on a partnership that will give the Chicago Police Department and the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications a remote connection to the cameras installed inside and outside Chicago schools.
(3/11/2008)
RFID Installation Speeds and Secures School Library Processing
Red Mountain Middle School in Deming, NM has implemented a radio frequency identification technology in its library for self-service checkout. The school chose RFID technology from Integrated Technology Group, which specializes in library automation technologies. The school, which opened in 2007 and currently has about 900 students, has a library collection of 9,000 volumes. That is expected to grow to 20,000 by the next school year.
(3/10/2008)
Student Hacker Sought Class Rankings Data
Chicago newspapers reported on a student who hacked into the computer system of the New Trier Township High School District. The intent, according to investigators, was to obtain grades and ACT scores to determine class rank and share it with other students. The information was made public by the school district in a recent memo to parents.
(3/10/2008)
5 New Schools, Districts Adopt 'Web Lockers'
Five school groups have signed on for School Web Lockers, a file sharing and storage provider. The new customers include the Roman Catholic Diocese Schools of Albany, NY; Clarkstown Central School District in New City, NY; De La Salle Institute in Chicago, IL; New Urban High School in Milwaukie, OR; and Pierson Vocational High School, in Nogales, AZ.
(3/10/2008)
Study: The Year's Top-10 Web Application Vulnerabilities
Web applications, by far, dominate the list of application security vulnerabilities facing IT organizations. While 29 percent of vulnerabilities are attributable to network and infrastructure weaknesses, a full 71 percent are attributable to both open source and commercial Web applications, according to a report released recently by security firm Cenzic Inc., "Application Security Trend Report for Q4 2007."
(3/4/2008)
SafetyCare Launches Wireless Emergency Response System
Security technology firm SafetyCare debuted a new emergency response system targeted toward education: SchoolTrak. The new system is designed to provide turnkey campus safety features for classrooms and other campus facilities through wireless technologies.
(2/26/2008)
Power LogOn Brings Access Control to School Facilities
Security management technology provider Access Smart earlier this month debuted Power LogOn Administrator 4.0 for educational institutions. The solution includes features for identity management, transactions, and building and network access using smart card technology.
(2/26/2008)
Kewanee District Adopts Disaster Recovery for Mixed Computing Environment
Kewanee Community Unit School District 229 in Illinois has adopted a new disaster recovery system for its students' computers. Kewanee chose Drive Vaccine from Horizon DataSys, a special version of the company's flagship Rollback Rx Pro disaster recovery suite tailored for education.
(2/21/2008)
Free Internet Filtering Service Launches
Free DNS service provider OpenDNS has launched its new, free Web filtering solution targeted toward education. The service taps into the expertise of IT professionals to create categories of Web sites that can be blocked by administrators with the click of a button (or two).
(2/20/2008)
Microsoft To Pilot 'Intellectual Property Rights Education' Curriculum
Following on the heels of its newly released survey on illegal downloading among students, Microsoft this week announced that it will launch a new curriculum for middle school and high school students focusing on intellectual property.
(2/15/2008)
OpenDNS To Launch Free Web Filtering for Education
Just what is "people-powered security?" It's how OpenDNS describes its forthcoming Web filtering solution targeted toward education. The service, set to launch later this month, taps into the expertise of IT professionals in schools (and in the private sector) to create a sort of reverse social tagging, blocking potentially dangerous sites based on users' experiences. Like all of OpenDNS' services, this new one is free, including support for deployment and integration in existing campus infrastructures.
(2/12/2008)
