iBoss for K-12 Education

The iboss Secure Cloud Gateway enforces CIPA compliance across all devices – on campus or off. It integrates seamlessly with directory services, and you can apply policies by user or group to ensure proper filtering. With the fastest and most scalable selective SSL decryption, iboss can filter encrypted traffic, such as Google, and remove network blind spots by providing visibility across all ports and protocols.

Schools that provide laptops for students to use at home still must enforce CIPA compliance on those devices off campus. iboss offers that protection – for all device types – by securing off-network users in the cloud. This avoids the costs and resource demands associated with backhauling data.

As schools move from paper-based to computer testing, the challenge of simultaneously ensuring adequate computer performance and CIPA compliance can become an issue. iboss offers unmatched bandwidth shaping and optimization to ensure that bandwidth is available during peak traffic hours or during critical activities.

Often blocking access to certain web content inadvertently prevents access to other parts that have educational merit. With iboss, granular policy controls ensure that inappropriate content is filtered without inhibiting consumption of appropriate content. Selective SSL decryption enables more granular filtering, and iboss ensures safe use of Google services, including image search and translation filtering.

According to Dosomething.org, nearly 43% of kids have been bullied online while only 1 in 10 victims will tell an adult of the abuse. The impacts of online bullying are substantial. They can lead to kids harming themselves or others. Identifying the early signs of online bullying as well as those kids who are at risk of hurting themselves or others is critical. Unfortunately, online bullying can occur at home or in school which makes it complicated for educators to detect. The advantage of iboss’s cloud platform is its ability to detect high-risk students regardless if they are at home or school seamlessly. Integrated tools include high-risk alerts social media and online forums, detailed reporting for high risk online post as they occur and detection for activity on bring your own devices (BYOD) which empower administrators with the tools they need to respond quickly and accurately.

According to IDC, Chromebooks represent 49 percent of the computers in U.S. education. Chromebooks are attractive due to their low cost and simplicity of use by leveraging the cloud. Because Chromebooks are cloud only platforms, traditional appliance-based filters have difficulty filtering them especially when it comes to creating proper reporting. Many schools resort to purchasing 3rd party solutions simply to secure Chromebooks which adds cost and complexity. With iboss Secure Cloud Gateway, securing Chromebooks in the cloud is seamless. Schools can secure thousands of Chromebooks in minutes without physical access to the devices. This is done through iboss’s partnership with Google and its Chromebook APP in the Google Play Store. The result is consistent for all devices including Chromebooks at a lower cost while eliminating the unnecessary expense of ‘specialty’ Chromebook solutions.  

Using traditional methods, thwarting malware attacks can be costly and labor-intensive. Many web filtering solutions in education lack the enterprise-grade cybersecurity required to protect schools from online attacks. This results in schools purchasing multiple solutions to secure students and staff data increasing cost and strain on the network team to manage. Iboss’s platform is the only education filtering solution that carries proven, enterprise-grade cybersecurity in one platform which is delivered through the cloud. The result is lower cost, reduced strain on the network IT staff and better protection for student and staff information.

There are over 1 billion websites in the world and according to NSS Labs, SSL traffic will represent over 60% of all traffic by 2018. That means that over 600 million websites will be masked by SSL and will be missed if SSL traffic is not inspected. Securing SSL consistently across any device, whether it’s a  Chromebook or a Windows as well as any browser is critical. By not providing consistent security, schools are exposed to violating CIPA compliance, creating breach points for threats and making it easy for students to bypass the Internet Use Policy. iboss provides patented SSL traffic security that not only ensures all sites meet compliance but also makes implementing SSL traffic inspection seamless which results in less impact on the network staff and lower cost to manage.