The Chinese International School (CIS) in Hong Kong has seen a 25%-30% improvement in the time taken to assess vulnerabilities in its network since upgrading to a next-generation firewall (NGFW) solution two years ago to combat growing ransomware attacks targeting the education sector.
Proactively moving to NGFWs also enabled the school to prepare for the technological and security challenges brought about by the pandemic.
“Due to COVID-19, most schools are balancing acute financial constraints with increased pressure to invest in the right technology to navigate a sophisticated threat landscape. By being proactive with the deployment of Next-Generation Firewalls, CIS was well placed to cope with the challenges brought on by the pandemic,” says Sunil Talwar, deputy director of operations at CIS.
CIS turned to cybersecurity partner Palo Alto Networks to supply the NGFW solution, which
provides advanced visibility capabilities, allowing the school to easily monitor and protect itself from any abnormal network traffic and activities online.
The school has a student population of 1,520 across two campuses located in Hong Kong and Hangzhou respectively. CIS has been partnering with Palo Alto Networks for six years now to continually beef up the school’s cybersecurity posture. With its new NGFW solution, the school’s small IT team gained a security tool not only delivers advanced visibility but also ease of management and simplified user interface.
“Over the last few years, we have seen cybercriminals employing newer and more sophisticated modes of attack. At the same time, the education sector has been facing the unprecedented challenges of managing the security risks of remote learning, virtual classrooms and multiple device accesses. We are thrilled to help CIS safeguard students and staff important data and assist the IT team to achieve their operations goals,” said Wickie Fung, general manager for Hong Kong and Macau at Palo Alto Networks.
