Life is about compromise and balance. Between work and family. Between needs and budgets. Between risk and security. Every day educators are faced with choices. Making the right decision is usually based on trade-offs. Compromises, by definition, involve concessions to move forward. Not ideal, but that's life.

But you don't have to compromise on securing your school's network at the expense of performance. The world of network security for schools is changing. More students, teachers and staff; more devices; more applications; and more threats. And cyber-criminals are getting smarter, more audacious and more persistent. What can you do to keep your students safe in an unsafe world?

“The solution starts with changing the way you look at your school's security,” says Andrew Khan, Fortinet Senior Business Manager at Ingram Micro, New Zealand's largest distributor of Fortinet's cyber security solutions. “Security must be comprehensive yet with zero trade-offs in network performance. To find the ‘sweet spot' between access and security, Fortinet has developed three simple rules to help protect your students, staff and network.

Rule number one: Keep it simple The more complex your network is, the harder it is to secure. The more security products, the greater the risk. Just the frequency of the updates between different products opens up an enormous gap to be exploited.

Rule number two: Today's security is borderless Security strategies have focused on ‘edge' protection at the perimeter. But the Internet, cloud, BYOD and Wi-Fi have changed all that. Traditional networks are unsecured inside the perimeter. Which means once the network is breached, the intruder can easily move laterally throughout the network, accessing sensitive files.

Rule number three: Slow is broken Slowing the network to implement security has never been a satisfactory strategy. Networks need to be fast. Otherwise students get restless. But securing the network invariably slows it down. Schools have been forced to find a middle ground between the two, a compromise that pleases no one.

Security without compromise Fortinet has negated the need for compromise between speed and security by integrating advanced protection into the network itself. “Fortinet protects your entire network,” continues Khan, “from the classroom to the front office to the cloud. Plus end point protection for desktops, mobile devices and network applications. And all are brought together seamlessly for end-to-end protection.

The Fortinet platform, tied together with a purpose-built secure operating system, provides a unified solution that embeds security across the entire infrastructure from the classroom, to the cloud and back. The result is high security combined with low latency.

“No one else can provide such a complete and seamless security infrastructure,” concludes Khan. “It's a new world, with new rules. Your Board, parents and caregivers, students and staff demand a fast yet secure network. You don't have to compromise. Your ICT people should be talking to Fortinet.

For further information, please contact:

Hugo Hutchinson, Business Development Manager Email :hugo.hutchinson@ingrammicro.com Mobile :021 245 8276

Marc Brunzel, Business Development Manager Email: marc.brunzel@ingrammicro.com Mobile:  021 241 6946

Andrew Khan, Senior Business Manager Email: andrew.khan@ingrammicro.com Mobile : 021 819 793