IT SECURITY CONCEPT FOR A PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

A school's IT infrastructure had grown considerably, and managing the ever-increasing number of computers in the computer rooms, classrooms and administration quickly became very complex. The biggest problem was ensuring security within the IT infrastructure. There was no uniform concept of which software was installed on which computers, which services and devices the user was allowed to access, how the software was kept up to date, including and especially the virus scanner.

The first step was to create an overview of every single PC in the building. These were then first divided into functional groups (computer room, administration, caretaker's office, kitchen, classrooms, ...). Then, for each group, which software may be installed there or may be used, which services and websites they should have access to and how updates are handled were determined. A central virus scanner and security solution from Kaspersky was then installed on the central server. There, all previously developed guidelines were defined in individual rules. Afterwards, the virus scanner client was automatically rolled out to all computers, which not only implement the rules on software and security, but also receive central updates on the virus database and installed software from the central server.

On the server, one now has an overview of all computers in the school building and can see their protection status at a glance. It is possible to see which virus scanners have particularly frequently deleted or prevented threats, which user has attempted to install unauthorized software or call up unauthorized websites. In addition, the update status of the local software can be seen and operations, such as access to the USB ports, can be prohibited or permitted centrally. It is now no longer necessary to physically maintain each individual computer, but this can be controlled centrally from the administration server. At the same time, this procedure considerably reduces the load on the internet connection, as not each of the more than 200 computers downloads updates of virus databases, Windows or installed software individually from the internet, but centrally from the server.