Securing school devices and protecting student privacy has never been more important — or more challenging.
Increase in heavily used devices
Increase in collaboration app usage
Devices using an OS two+ versions behind
Visibility is down. Device drift is up.
At a time when maintaining a clear line of sight to devices and data is imperative, IT teams are flying blind. Missing devices are a major challenge for 41% of schools. 20% of endpoints have gone dark. And audits loom, where visibility is necessary to prove the impact of IT investments on learning outcomes.
Yet, despite new risks and evolving requirements, IT team sizes are unchanged — stretched thin as they grapple with increasingly complex operating environments and the challenges of remote device management.
Complexity continues to rise.
The challenge of managing and securing multiple device types and operating systems — remotely — has made schools easy targets, with outdated OS versions and inconsistent patching resulting in ever-widening security gaps.
72% of devices are running operating systems two or more versions behind — rising to 81% for machines running Chrome OS. 454 patch versions were reported across Windows devices.
And the attack surface has expanded.
As IT teams prepare to support every learning environment — in-class, remote, or hybrid — new tools and applications further complicate their mission.
Use of online collaboration tools and remote desktop protocols has skyrocketed — increasing the risks of a ransomware attack. And securing remote access is an escalating challenge, with 46% of schools reporting at least one device using rogue or non-authorized VPN or web proxy applications.
Source: Verizon Data Breach Report, 2020
Know the risks. Adapt your approach.
Compiled from data collected from millions of devices across 10,000 schools and districts, Distance Learning's Impact on Education IT shines a light on key trends and new areas of risk, and provides a strategic blueprint for IT teams tasked with supporting modern learning environments.
You'll learn:
Key trends and new risks introduced by the shift to distance learning
How students are engaging with online learning tools
Why a proactive approach to endpoint resilience is critical for the 20/21 school year
Join the conversation: How schools are adapting to remote and hybrid learning models
Webinar: Distance Learning’s Impact on Education IT
Join us as we review the findings of our landmark report, highlighting key trends and revealing a strategic blueprint for modern learning environments. This is a must-see event for IT professionals working in K-12 education.
Absolute is the only undeletable endpoint defense platform for education.
Embedded in the firmware of over half a billion devices, we provide endpoint visibility, control and resilience to:
10,000+
schools and districts
Millions
of educational devices
28 of the 50
largest districts in the U.S.