Education

K-12 cybersecurity services and support for higher education

School districts, community colleges and universities protect student records and keep learning online with small IT teams and tight budgets. We help you find the biggest risks, fix them in order and watch your systems around the clock.

Talk to an expert See K-12 and higher ed
  • NIST-based assessments that support funding requests
  • 24/7 detection and response for lean IT teams
  • Tabletop exercises for district and campus leaders
Student using a tablet in a classroom
Engineer checking infrastructure in a server room

The challenge

Why schools and campuses are hard to secure

Education networks are open by design. Thousands of students, staff and guests connect every day, often on personal devices, and many classroom apps hold student data. IT teams are usually small and responsible for everything from Chromebooks to phones to door controls.

Attackers take advantage of that. Ransomware can close schools or delay terms, and phishing aimed at payroll and business office staff is common. Student privacy laws, board expectations and cyber insurance questionnaires add pressure to show the basics are in place.

  • Large numbers of users and devices, many unmanaged
  • Student records spread across many cloud apps
  • Small IT teams with wide responsibilities
  • Funding tied to budget cycles and grants
  • Cyber insurance requirements for MFA and backups

K-12 and higher education

How we help schools, colleges and universities

K-12 school districts

School district cybersecurity starts with a NIST-based assessment of your network, devices, cloud apps and policies. From there we help you add MFA, tested backups, 24/7 monitoring and staff phishing training, and run a tabletop exercise with district leaders so everyone knows their role if systems go down.

Community colleges and universities

Higher education cybersecurity consulting covers decentralized departments, research data and financial aid systems. Institutions that take part in federal student aid programs must meet the FTC Safeguards Rule under GLBA. We help with the risk assessment, written program, testing and vendor oversight it requires.

Penetration testing

Human-led testing of networks, wireless, web applications and staff, with a prioritized fix list your team can work through between terms.

Penetration testing

24/7 managed detection and response

Analysts watch endpoints, network, cloud and identity around the clock, so your team isn’t on call every night and weekend.

Explore MDR

Funding

Paying for cybersecurity in California education

Funding is often the deciding factor. California community colleges may be able to use Proposition 98 funds for cybersecurity work, and the state has directed Proposition 98 money to community college cybersecurity in past budgets. Confirm what applies to your district with your business office before planning a project.

Whatever the source, a documented assessment helps. It gives your board, business office or grant application a clear list of risks and costs, and a way to show progress with a repeat assessment the following year.

Where to start

A plan you can budget

We scope work so it can be phased across fiscal years.

  • NIST CSF maturity assessment
  • Prioritized roadmap with effort estimates
  • Repeat assessment to show progress

Regulations and frameworks

Education requirements we help with

  • Safeguards for student records under FERPA
  • GLBA and FTC Safeguards Rule for federal student aid
  • NIST Cybersecurity Framework maturity assessments
  • Cyber insurance control requirements
  • PCI DSS for campus payments
  • Incident response planning and tabletop exercises
  • Vendor reviews for education technology apps
  • Security awareness and phishing testing

FAQ

Education cybersecurity questions

Usually an assessment, MFA and access controls, tested backups, endpoint protection with 24/7 monitoring, phishing training and an incident response plan. We start with the assessment so your district spends first where the risk is highest.

California community colleges may be able to use Proposition 98 funds for cybersecurity. Rules and allocations change with each state budget, so confirm with your business office before you plan a project.

Institutions that participate in federal student aid programs are treated as financial institutions under GLBA and must meet the FTC Safeguards Rule. That includes a written information security program, a risk assessment, a qualified individual who oversees it and regular testing.

Yes. Many schools run with very small teams. Our MDR and vCISO services add around-the-clock monitoring and security leadership without new hires, and we work alongside your staff.

The number of sites, users and devices, whether you want ongoing monitoring or a one-time assessment, and how much remediation you want us to deliver. We scope the work and quote a fixed price that can be phased across budget years.

Yes. We’re headquartered in San Diego and serve schools and other organizations across the US.

Related services

Related services

NIST CSF maturity assessment

Benchmark your program and plan improvements.

NIST CSF

Tabletop exercises

Rehearse an incident with district or campus leaders.

Tabletop exercises

Social engineering testing

Phishing tests and training for staff.

Social engineering

Government and public agencies

Assessments for cities and special districts.

Government

Talk to an expert

Protect student data and keep learning online

Tell us about your district or campus, your team and your budget cycle, and an advisor will reply by email to set up a conversation.

  • A starting point sized to your IT team
  • Work that can be phased across fiscal years

Prefer email? Write to [email protected] or call (858) 712-0040.

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