Device Management Is Crucial in Enhancing Cybersecurity for Interactive Touchscreens

By Nadav Avni, CMO of Radix Technologies

Elevate your cybersecurity defenses with effective device management strategies for interactive touchscreens. Unleash the power of secure interactivity while safeguarding sensitive information.

The education sector’s digital transformation is helping students keep pace with modern technology. The internet has made it easier than ever for kids to access learning materials, submit assignments, and participate in group activities. In addition, schools now use interactive touchscreens instead of antiquated tools such as whiteboards, projectors, and video cassette players. All that’s remaining is to ensure school devices have the right device management support to keep them safe.

Like everything else, technology also has a dark side. For the education sector, cybersecurity breaches often mean great risks to student privacy. Awareness, best practices, and device management can help minimize the damages from cybersecurity breaches. After all, when school districts commit to a full and safe digital upgrade, students win.

Identifying Cybersecurity Challenges in Education

What’s the best medium of instruction for students who grew up immersed in the internet, usually via their parent’s smartphones and tablets? Interactive touchscreens, of course! Touchscreens provide a natural extension for kids who learned to type letters on phone screens and play videos with touch controls.

Unfortunately, school devices aren’t totally immune to cybersecurity issues. Many students and teachers alike fall for phishing scams, where they inadvertently share their user accounts and passwords with online thieves. These criminals will then access their private data to steal whatever they can.

Additionally, cyber gangs can also use brute-force hacking and SQL injections to gain access to restricted servers. In some cases, institutions fall victim to ransomware, where they’re forced to pay gangs to return access to critical data in exchange for money.

Negligence in cybersecurity measures

 is the major reason for online breaches. However, the use of obsolete technology is also a factor. A single device that has yet to update to the latest software version leaves the entire system vulnerable to attacks. Reminding users to practice online diligence is a good way to minimize attacks. However, school districts also need reliable device management software to protect and update devices.

Implementing Comprehensive Device Management Solutions

Comprehensive device management solutions enable school districts to enforce area-wide security protocols. A key feature of modern device management is remote ability. This allows IT administrators to remotely connect to one or all devices on demand.

What’s more, management can monitor each device to see if it runs the latest software versions and allows access only to authorized users. Remote management also allows IT teams to schedule automatic updates during device downtimes.

Another key feature of device management is assigning user access levels consistent with their duties. For example, students receive access to scheduled modules and their personal records.

Meanwhile, instructors get wider access to their student data and the course curriculum. School administrators and board members can collect user data to gather insights into school and individual performances. Finally, IT teams have access to system settings and administrative work.

Basically, each user only gets to work on their defined area of responsibility. Partitioning access reduces the risk of users overstepping their bounds and records any such attempts or incidences.

Monitoring, Patching, and Vulnerability Management

Touchscreen devices are some of the biggest expenditures schools can make as they embrace the digital classroom. Ensuring a great return on investment (ROI) for these devices means having them work optimally beyond their expected lifespan.

Providing expert care and maintenance on these machines will extend their operational years. Additionally, IT administrators should consistently apply the latest updates and fixes to system software, firmware, and applications. This ensures all school equipment uses the latest software versions. More importantly, malicious entities can’t exploit documented vulnerabilities in the software.

For this reason, remote management should remain a key feature of your device management platform. The ability to connect with one or more devices remotely lets administrators apply critical updates and patches immediately. It also enables admins to attend to devices reporting unauthorized access attempts.

With a single command prompt, admins can freeze, shut down, or disable devices to prevent any further action. If there are attempts to steal data or devices, admins can wipe all stored information or incapacitate devices. At the same time, geolocation services can identify the location of stolen or missing devices.

Educating Users: Promoting Cybersecurity Awareness and Best Practices

Embracing a totally digital educational system means being aware of the risks that come with it. Many of today’s students are digital natives, having grown up in a computerized environment. Sometimes, this familiarity leads students to boldly attempt to override school systems or hack local databases. While many will do so with malicious intent, some will do so just because they can.

A good start for school districts is to educate students about the need to protect their own data. This includes assuming the responsibility of securing and updating their passwords and encrypting or protecting their documents. Additionally, students should learn to always log out of shared devices after use.

However, awareness is just the beginning. School districts should also enlist the help of reliable device management software, which can take the pressure off individual users.

Having a platform that monitors, manages, and secures all school devices is a great deterrent against wanton online aggression. More importantly, a good device management platform has the tools to secure devices and counter any unauthorized access attempts.

Enjoy the Full Digital Experience With Reliable Device Management

Touchscreen devices and other digital school equipment are great tools students can use to learn proper cybersecurity. With their assigned accounts and devices, they can practice diligent password management and proper document storage. Instructors can also spend a few sessions teaching students about common cybercrimes such as phishing, malware, and ransomware.

In short, awareness combined with reliable device management practices can set up a great learning system in schools with digital equipment. Embracing technology means recognizing the possible dangers that go with it. Doing so is a win-win situation for both school districts and the students themselves.