According to statista, e-learning market worldwide is forecast to surpass 243 billion U.S. dollars by 2022 .This means that schools are readily adopting internet to enable their students to learn, and gain skills they might otherwise not be exposed to. While the internet provides a plethora of new avenues to help students learn, it also comes with numerous distractions, inappropriate materials and malware, if not used judiciously. Educational institutions need to regulate their students' access to the internet to reap the utmost benefits.
Here are some practices that schools and universities can do to reap the benefits of internet, without compromising on security:
It should be ensured that students can access the internet via a single browser. This can help IT teams manage and secure the browser efficiently.
To prevent students from accessing inappropriate websites, IT teams of educational institutions should identify the necessary websites and block access to all others. If this isn't possible, access must be restricted to unnecessary websites. It should be ensured that students can not bypass the imposed restrictions.
Security configurations should be deployed onto the browsers. These configurations will ensure that students do not get redirected to malicious websites that intend to steal data or infect the system with malware.
Ensuring that students can only download files from authorized websites will prevent them from downloading games. This will also prevent driveby attacks, which work by downloading and installing malware onto machine without users' intervention.Restricting downloads to authorized websites will not only help maintain students' productivity, but also improve security.
All the above practices can be achieved using Browser Security Plus. Once imposed, students will not be able to bypass the configurations and policies. Download a free, 30-day trial of Browser Security Plus and try out these features for yourself.