A peek into our new threat protection platform
Schools and kura are caretakers of sensitive and valuable data, with wide networks, hundreds of devices, and users with varying tech proficiency and confidence. Protecting your networks and your users requires powerful threat detection technology – and that’s what our latest upgrade delivers.
We’ve significantly boosted our threat intelligence capabilities and improved cybersecurity for schools by integrating with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)’s Malware-Free Networks® (MFN) and Phishing Disruption Service™(PDS).
We already offer schools efficient and world-leading security solutions helping them stay better protected from the increasing number of cyber threats. But now, by partnering with the NCSC and sharing their threat intelligence, we have the ability to quickly block threats in near real-time, as well as speedier responses to potential incidents. Even better, it’s already happening behind the scenes, which means your school gets all the benefits without any additional work.
Proactive management, safer schools
Collaboration is critical in the fight against cyber threats. By working with the NCSC, we can add another layer of protection for the nearly 2,500 schools and kura on our Managed Network. This new capability integrates real-time global and national threat data with specific New Zealand intelligence, including trends and new security vulnerabilities.
Our security team now has a platform that’s continually receiving and sharing cyber threat information from the NCSC. When a new threat is detected, the system can react in close to real-time by automatically blocking the threat before it reaches school networks. It’s a turbo-charged version of our threat detection and response technology.
For schools and kura, this proactive approach means faster, more accurate threat detection and resolution. The new technology lets us find, block and deal with cyber threats as quickly as possible, often before they reach your network. If a breach does happen, the technology lets us identify the source of the attack or leak and act quickly to minimise the impact. It’s about reducing the risk of a data leak, hack or phishing scam impacting your network. Here’s how it works:
Greater protection from malware
Malware is designed by cybercriminals to enter your system, cause major disruption and give hackers access to sensitive data, making it a significant risk to schools across Aotearoa. NCSC’s innovative Malware-Free Networks® service uses advanced cyber threat intelligence to identify potential malware before it reaches your network – avoiding the disruption, loss of access and loss of data that can come with it.
One example of malware detection in action: if NCSC flags a malicious website, we can now automatically block devices on your network from accessing that site in near real-time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the past, our security team had to verify the threat and then request a block across the network – a slower process that could lead to a slower detection and response.
Another layer of defence against phishing attacks
Phishing attacks, which use misleading messages and fake websites or forms to gather log-in details and gain access to your networks, are one of the biggest security threats for schools and kura. Phishing can be particularly difficult to deal with because it can get around security systems by targeting real people. When you have young ākonga and non-expert users using your network, phishing attacks can represent a high level of risk. The NCSC’s Phishing Disruption Service™ helps get in front of those threats so they don’t reach your users in the first place. We integrated with the service so we have access to the latest threat intelligence in near real-time. This means we can detect and block potential phishing attacks on your network, often before they reach your users. This significantly reduces the chance of a successful phishing attack.
Delivering to the unique needs of schools and kura
By working with NCSC, we’ve now drastically improved our threat detection and response time. It’s a collaborative approach aimed at boosting cybersecurity across New Zealand. Schools benefit from advanced threat intelligence and automated responses, and we also share threats and incidents with NCSC so they can feed those findings back into their intelligence systems.
The outcome? Your school or kura gets the benefit of a proactive, informed approach to cybersecurity thanks to all these integrations and automations that are happening behind the scenes. It’s also important to note that these feeds don’t hold any school data or personally identifiable information.
We’re committed to helping protect schools and kura, and we’ve always been at the forefront of threat detection technology. This partnership is the natural next step in our cyber protection story – it’s another way for us to help protect your school network and help you create safer, usable online spaces for your ākonga. Interested in learning how N4L could better protect your school? Please get in touch with our Customer Support team on 0800 LEARNING (0800 532 764) or by emailing [email protected]z.