Webb City School District in Missouri serves approximately 4,500 students and employs around 500 staff members. The district primarily uses Google Workspace for communication, collaboration, and data storage with students and staff. 

“Before Cloud Monitor, we didn’t really have a way to secure PII using the native Google admin tools. Now, if sensitive information is shared improperly, Cloud Monitor will automatically catch it, alert us, and take care of it. That gives me peace of mind and saves me from having to constantly chase down issues.”

—Miles Edge, Systems Engineer, Webb City School District

Managing security and student safety in this environment falls to the district’s technology team, including Systems Engineer Miles Edge. When they needed a better way to manage Google Workspace security, protect personally identifiable information (PII), and support investigations, they turned to ManagedMethods’ Cloud Monitor.

“We primarily use it for investigating,” says Miles. “If something comes up and we need to check on an email, shared file, or some other communication, Cloud Monitor makes it easy to pull it up and see exactly what’s going on. We also use it to revoke third-party apps and have PII detection in place.”

Challenges

Before Cloud Monitor, Webb City School District’s IT team struggled with the limitations of Google’s native admin tools, especially after Google moved key investigation features from the free tier to paid licenses. “A lot of the stuff you could do before, like deleting emails or running investigations, was free. But then Google started charging for it,” Miles recalls.

“I like that we can automatically revoke access to third-party apps. If a student tries to log into an unapproved app with their school Google account, Cloud Monitor automatically revokes it. It takes almost no effort on our part and keeps us from having to deal with bigger safety and compliance issues down the road.”

—Miles Edge, Systems Engineer, Webb City School District

This shift forced the district to either pay for a higher Google tier or find another solution. At the same time, they lacked visibility into personally identifiable information in Google Drive and email. “Before using Cloud Monitor, we didn’t have a great way to control how sensitive data was being shared, so there were some cases where it was just out there. It had been on our minds for a while,” says Miles.

Restricting access to risky third-party apps was another challenge. Miles found that students often used school Google accounts to log into inappropriate or non-educational apps, creating data security and student safety concerns. “We needed a way to automatically prevent logins to things like social media or inappropriate apps for safety and compliance reasons,” Miles explains. “We didn’t want the district to get pulled into an investigation over something students were doing outside of school use.”

Results

Implementing Cloud Monitor allowed Webb City School District to save money by licensing the free Google Workspace for Education tier. This freed up budget to fund their Cloud Monitor subscription, while gaining improved data security, student safety, and compliance controls in one easy-to-use dashboard. “It was pretty easy to make the switch. The price was about the same, and set up takes just a few minutes, so we just moved over,” says Miles.

“Purchasing Cloud Monitor was a no-brainer. We were able to save on our Google license, which covered the cost of Cloud Monitor, while gaining better security and student safety controls in one easy-to-use dashboard.”

—Miles Edge, Systems Engineer, Webb City School District

Today, Cloud Monitor automates much of the district’s Google data security and safety enforcement, saving Miles and the rest of the IT team significant time. Policies run automatically in the background, alerting Miles only when needed. The team can quickly locate and delete problematic emails, investigate student safety concerns, and block risky apps in minutes with a few clicks.

“I like that we can revoke access to apps,” says Miles. “Now, if a student tries to log into something like OnlyFans with their school account, they can’t even get in. That keeps us from having to deal with it later.”

The platform has also improved the district’s ability to respond to a variety of investigation requests. “If we need to bring up an investigation on a student or find every time a name is mentioned, we can do that easily with Cloud Monitor,” Miles notes.

For Miles, recommending Cloud Monitor to other K–12 technology teams is simple: “It’s very user-friendly and easy to use. The settings make sense, so even people who aren’t super tech-savvy can learn it quickly. At the very least, give it a test drive. It’s quick and easy to set up.”

Want to learn more about improving your district’s cybersecurity, student safety, and classroom engagement?

Get started with your free Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 security and safety audit today.

The post How Webb City School District Improved Google Security and Safety Without Adding Costs appeared first on ManagedMethods Cybersecurity, Safety & Compliance for K-12.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from ManagedMethods Cybersecurity, Safety & Compliance for K-12 authored by Katie Fritchen. Read the original post at: https://managedmethods.com/blog/customer-story-k12-webb-city-school-district-mo/