GuardSight partner Avertere aims to transform educational learning environments into safe havens for students and staff with next-generation physical and cyber security solutions. By providing 24x7x365 oversight, monitoring, notifications and responses, Avertere takes the safety and security burden off teachers and administrators. This results in more effective educators, creating better learning and growth environments for students.
Matt Friedman, Co-Founder and CEO of Avertere, weighs in on company solutions, trends in the education industry, and challenges faced by stakeholders:
As educational institutions increasingly become targets for cyber threats, what specific challenges do you see in securing their complex and diverse networks, and how does Avertere’s approach address these challenges effectively?
One primary challenge we see within K12 Educational Institutions is the ratio of devices that need to be protected versus security staff in place. The end result is a vast threat landscape and limited security personnel. This has resulted in K12 Educational Institutions becoming soft targets for hackers. Let’s compare K12 institutions with typical Corporate Enterprises within North America. Below are several enlightening observations:
In order to close this gap and secure these diverse and complex environments, Avertere in partnership with GuardSight, is working to bring a dedicated SOC offering to Educational Institutions. By offloading the network / cybersecurity burden from administrators and staff, they are able to focus on what is most important, educating children.
Educational institutions often have limited resources and budget constraints for cybersecurity initiatives. How does Avertere assist educational institutions in maximizing the value of their investments and optimizing their cybersecurity defenses within these limitations?
Avertere takes a unique approach to doing more with less. We offer comprehensive tools rationalization services, which often times lead to a reduction in Technology Spend for schools while reducing operational burden. We help IT staff optimize their limited resources, by simplifying the technology landscape and helping them mature the platforms that are already in place today.
Educational institutions require a comprehensive cybersecurity approach to protect their networks and sensitive data. How does the collaboration between Avertere and channel partner GuardSight enhance the capabilities of educational institutions in terms of threat detection, incident response, and overall cybersecurity posture?
Another challenge within Educational Institutions is understanding the assets that are on the network. Avertere and GuardSight offer comprehensive device inventory and discovery services which enable Schools to achieve a complete and holistic understanding of all devices that are on the network and need to be protected. This is a critical, and often missing, foundational step to any effective security program.
Educational institutions often struggle to strike a balance between enabling open access to information and protecting sensitive data. Could you provide insights into how Avertere helps educational institutions implement robust data protection measures while maintaining a conducive learning environment?
Avertere understands Educational Software and the learning environment. We have developed frameworks that are custom tailored to an academic vertical. Schools can take advantage of our comprehensive platform offerings to avoid re-inventing the wheel when it comes to effectively securing their environment. Avertere and GuardSight’s goal is to meet schools where they are on their safety and security journey and work together to create an achievable maturity model while maintaining an educational growth mindset.
With the rise of online learning platforms and remote education, what are the specific cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities that educational institutions should be aware of? How does Avertere’s suite of services address these risks and safeguard the integrity of online educational environments?
In today’s world, many children spend similar if not more time online than they do in the physical world. The rise of online platforms, has also increased the access that bad actors have to students. These bad actors often times target vulnerabilities in software to circumvent protections that may be in place. This can unfortunately lead to a rise in sexual exploitation, virtual kidnapping, cyberbullying, and other threats. Avertere can significantly reduce vulnerabilities that may be in place today and ensure that deployed protective measures cannot be circumvented by bad actors.
Finally, in your experience with working within K12, what level of maturity do Educational Institutions have in place when it comes to safety and security?
We have found that most schools are more experienced with reducing risk by implementing physical security controls. Often times digital controls or security solutions are not deployed at an equivalent level. One of our goals at Avertere is to ensure schools have best in class physical security solutions, and also have robust digital security solutions in place. Below is an illustration of how we provide similar solutions in the digital world that align with solutions schools may be more familiar with in the physical world.
Contact us to learn how we can help your company take a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity and succeed in hybrid or surge-ops mode in the cyber fight against the bad guys!
