Cyber Security for Schools

Securing school networks and protecting students

Protect your students from cyber threats while allowing them to access the digital content they need for learning

The AARNet Cyber Security for Schools solution is a unique learning enablement and cyber safety platform co-developed by AARNet in partnership with K-12 school customers and leading cyber security service provider CyberEdge. The solution offers a set of integrated network and security services to help schools identify, mitigate and respond to cyber threats.

Connectivity you can rely on

AARNet’s powerful network and connectivity services are purpose-built for the research and education sector. Dedicated fast, scalable and secure links connect schools to the internet, the global research and education community and online resources to deliver a consistent high-quality experience in the classroom for everyone.

Protection you can trust

The CyberEdge Unified Threat Management solution provides cyber security, cybersafety and tools for deep packet inspection, pastoral reporting and behavioural analytics, as well as in-class controls for teachers. CyberEdge ensures all internet traffic in and out of the school is proactively monitored and vetted.

Key features

Firewall

Next Generation Firewall delivers application aware firewalling to schools with inbuilt controls for the identification and control of evasive technologies such as anonymisers, VPNs, proxies and more, optimised for high throughput networks up to 10 Gbps.

Intrusion Prevention System

High performance flow-based Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) delivers advanced threat protection by inspecting network traffic for exploits and vulnerabilities. With 12,000+ rules, weekly updates and advanced GeoIP controls, protection is provided against the latest known and unknown threats. Automated network access control and policy enforcement is via ClearPass integration.

Virus and Malware Protection

Traffic is scanned using the latest virus and malware signatures available ensuring the best protection for the network. Daily signature updates are provided as part of the service and automatically enabled.

Category Web Filtering

Advanced category web filtering provides 500+ categories of content to ensure granular access to online digital content. Categorisation is informed by over 600 million users globally and 4 trillion queries a month, and uses a combination of machine learning and 24×7 human quality assurance to maintain access and acceptable use policies in real time.

XGen Reporting

The XGen reporting platform contains a centralised repository incorporating data collected from the various layers of network traffic. Data includes Internet and application usage, malware and virus events, GeoIP events, network utilisation, content analytics and more.

Customisable Dashboards

Detailed events-driven dashboard provides teachers and students a real-time view of data from their web-based activities. Data includes website and content breakdown as well as access to YouTube video usage by title, category and views.

The level of experience and knowledge really instilled confidence and allayed any apprehension for us transitioning to such a critical service. The service levels subsequent to the implementation have been second to none and of the highest levels we have experienced in any service arrangement.”

Adam Ryan

Infrastructure and ICT Manager at Ballarat Clarendon College

Safeguarding your classroom

Classroom Control

Classroom Control allows teachers to maximise productivity, student focus and learning by providing in-class tools to manage content access at the individual student level.

SpeakUp

SpeakUp is an easy to use self-service portal that provides a safe and secure way for students to inform school leadership of important welfare matters such as bullying, cyber-bullying, physical threats, self harm and more.

ClearView

ClearView scans and analyses Internet traffic to identify indicators of student behavioural or welfare risk, allowing for early intervention on more serious issues.

Critical protection

DDoS Detection

The AARNet Denial of Service (DDoS) Detection system helps defend the AARNet network and our connected institutions from malicious cyber attacks. The AARNet Operations Centre is alerted within minutes of a suspected DDoS attack, 24x7. This allows us to notify any impacted customers and filter out unwanted traffic before it reaches the network and connected institutions.

Early Warning System

The AARNet Early Warning System (EWS) compliments the DDoS Detection service by providing early notification of issues affecting the performance of the network. Schools nominate critical services, such as a public website or learning management system, for monitoring by our EWS system.

RoamSafe

RoamSafe prevents students from accessing inappropriate material on iOS devices away from school. Ideal for Primary and Middle School.

Enterprise integration and support

Layer 3 Edge Network Integration

Offered as an optional integrated service, the AARNet engineering team will design, optimise and manage the network integration for the AARNet Cyber Security Services for Schools, including dynamic BGP failover, HA scenarios, performance tuning and monitoring.

Access to experts

Our Customer Success Team is available to provide guidance in smoothly transitioning to AARNet services.

24/7 Help & Support

The AARNet 24/7 Operations Centre provides a single point of contact for all AARNet network and security services issues and support.

View more related case studies

Leading Australian regional school boosts network capacity and cyber security protection

Resilient, scalable and secure solutions delivered by AARNet infrastructure and Cyber Security for Schools services support excellence in teaching and learning for The Rockhampton Grammar School.