November 2007 — News
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Laptop Security: Covering the Bases
Through FortiManager, an integrated monitoring and management solution, the district receives active reporting from all laptops, regardless of whether they are on or off campus. "We can follow up on exactly where certain laptops are pinging," said Solis. "From there, we get more detailed sketches and actively circumvent any problems by, say, denying access to those IP addresses and/or Web sites."
Chris Simmons, director of product strategy at Fortinet, said the school district's rollout was different than many others in that the security solution had to be installed on the laptops to allows for protection both on its internal network (while the students are on campus) and externally (as they travel elsewhere). "Each laptop had to include personal firewall protection, and a utility to protect the students from inappropriate content to ensure that the students don't access sites that they shouldn't be," said Simmons.
With two campuses enrolled in the laptop program, and every teacher also using a computer to track attendance and grades, Solis said the school is pleased with the results of its security choice. "We've been able to maintain a much better level of security and monitoring through the system," Solis explained. "Our teachers who are grading papers at home no longer have to worry about having spyware on their units, which have become much more reliable and secure as a result of our investment."
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About the author: Bridget McCrea is a business and technology writer in Clearwater, FL. She can be reached at bridgetmc@earthlink.net.
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