Granular management of social media delivers safe enriched e-Learning experience
READING: Northgate Managed Services (Northgate) has selected Websense, Inc., a global leader in unified web security, email security, mobile security and data loss prevention (DLP), to safely enable social media use, combat cyber bullying, and prevent malware across 1,200 Northern Ireland schools and support 350,000 students and teachers.
The complete ‘Education Network Northern Ireland’ (ENNI) contract worth £170m has been awarded by C2k to Northgate who will design, implement, manage and support Europe’s first Education Cloud environment for schools in Northern Ireland, in partnership with selected suppliers. The new service has been designed to create a dynamic, future-proofed, flexible service which provides schools with increased access to learning resources. A security solution was required to allow students to utilise the internet for a greater learning experience by providing access to dynamic web pages such as: YouTube, Facebook, blogs, Twitter and other collaborative social networking sites.
Websense® Web Security Gateway Anywhere (WSGA) was selected for its granular management of content within dynamic web pages. By analysing the individual links and comments on each page, Websense categorises the content and gives administrators the ability to determine what is appropriate for students, block malware and stop confidential data from being lost or stolen. Students can use the web for e-learning while being protected in real time against the latest cyber threats. Granular policy settings also allow administrations to restrict internet posts that use language associated with cyber bullying.
Northgate Managed Services also selected Websense Cloud Email Security to provide real-time protection against spam, inappropriate content and email-based malware.
Websense Web Security Gateway Anywhere and Websense Cloud Email Security are parts of the Websense TRITON™ architecture. The Websense TRITON solution unifies all the key components of threat defense and data theft prevention into a cohesive content security system. It brings together web security, email security, mobile security, and DLP defenses with unified security intelligence and a unified management console. TRITON solutions can be deployed on enterprise-grade appliances, as cloud-based services, and as powerful and efficient hybrids of on-premise and cloud elements working together.
“Websense is the perfect fit for the ENNI project because it provides a rich user experience for students, while maintaining the highest levels of network security to protect against internet-based malware attacks,” said Andy Ross, chief executive at Northgate Managed Services. “Classrooms rely on the social web as a teaching tool and students use it to connect with classmates. Websense is providing a scalable way for schools to enjoy all the benefits of the social web without the cyber bullying, malware and data loss that is ever-present. Websense also made it cost effective because we consolidated previous technologies.