Hueneme Elementary School District Saves Time and Improves Google Security with Cloud Monitor by ManagedMethods

Hueneme Elementary School District, located in Port Hueneme, California, serves its community with dedication and commitment to educational excellence. With approximately 7,400 students and 400 staff members, the district employs a range of devices, including iPads for pre-K through second grade and Chromebooks for third through eighth grade, ensuring a robust 1:1 program for its students. 

To help maintain a seamless and secure digital environment, the district uses Cloud Monitor by ManagedMethods for greater visibility and control of its Google Workspace domain.

“At Hueneme Elementary School District, ensuring our students and staff have the tools they need to succeed is a top priority. Cloud Monitor is an essential part of our IT strategy, helping us maintain a secure and efficient digital environment,” says Grant Molina, IT Support Technician and Google Admin for the district, who plays a pivotal role in overseeing cybersecurity, network management, and hardware deployments.

“Before Cloud Monitor, relying on Google’s built-in security features was time-consuming and often ineffective. Cloud Monitor saves me time and it allows me to monitor our Google Workspace effectively. I don’t have to drill down into Google’s security menu and hope I find what I’m looking for. It’s all on a single pane of glass.”

Grant Molina,
IT Support Technician and Google Admin, Hueneme Elementary School District

The Challenge

Transitioning from on-prem email and servers to Google Workspace provided the district with many benefits. But, it also created some challenges, particularly concerning cloud security and student safety. The district IT team’s reliance on Google’s built-in security features contributed to that challenge.

“Before Cloud Monitor, relying on Google’s built-in security features was time-consuming and often ineffective. Running security audits was challenging, and educating non-technical staff about data risks and leaks added to our workload,” he recalled.

To Grant and his team, the native security features are not user-friendly, often requiring extensive time to navigate and use effectively. Additionally, the user interface changes frequently, which adds to the complexity and time commitment needed to figure out where to find what you’re looking for.

The time commitment aspect was a major hurdle for Grant. Trying to do an investigation into an issue that is so complex and time-intensive for a tech who is being pulled in ten different directions is a serious security risk.

He needed a solution that would monitor security threats proactively, reduce the complexity and time required to complete security audits, and help automate educating non-technical staff about the severity of these issues.

The Solution

Once Grant had their Google backup solution in place, he knew he needed to start thinking with more of a security mindset. The IT team did a Google security audit with a company that opened their eyes to how big of a problem they had with third-party applications connecting to the domain through Oauth.

“That audit opened the door to the need for a solution like ManagedMethods,” said Grant. “We wanted to have a stronger hold on what’s coming in, going out, and how our Google accounts are being used.”

He came across Cloud Monitor by ManagedMethods while doing a Google search and signed up for a demo. “The demo solidified the course we were going to take,” he recalled. “It had the security features we needed and it was easy to use.”

“We’ve found malware on our Google Drives. Cloud Monitor makes it easy to find and delete it and contact the end user before it becomes a bigger issue. Cloud Monitor also put a light on the fact that we were having issues with students using VPNs, while giving us the tools to remove and block those connections easily.”

Grant Molina,
IT Support Technician and Google Admin, Hueneme Elementary School District

Implementing Cloud Monitor has significantly enhanced Hueneme Elementary School District’s cloud security and student safety processes. 

For starters, the platform helped with their need to control the use of third-party apps. Even after Google changed third-party app management settings to limit what children under 12 can access, there is still a need to limit the use of personal apps on the rest of their accounts for security and liability reasons. 

“We don’t allow the use of lifestyle apps like Uber or Lyft. Any of our accounts, whether they are student or staff accounts, we only want to be used for school purposes,” Grant explained. “Those apps ask for permission to access Google Drive and to read and write emails. We have staff who are working with sensitive information, so, by proxy, we were allowing these apps to access confidential information. We needed to stop that from happening.”

The platform’s visual insights and consolidated information in a single pane of glass have streamlined Grant’s daily routine and incident response capabilities significantly. 

“We’ve found malware on our Google Drives. Cloud Monitor makes it easy to find and delete it, and contact the end user before it becomes a bigger issue,” Grant said. “Cloud Monitor also put a light on the fact that we were having issues with students using VPNs while giving us the tools to remove and block those connections easily.”

The ability to monitor Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Payment Card Industry (PCI) data stored in Google Drive and Gmail is particularly valuable. Instances of staff saving sensitive documents, such as tax forms and credit card details, are now swiftly identified and addressed, turning potential security risks into teachable moments.

Grant and the IT team at Hueneme now have more control over the security of their Google Workspace environment, effectively managing data flow and user activities. Cloud Monitor’s time-saving capabilities and comprehensive security features have not only met but exceeded the team’s expectations, proving to be a worthwhile investment that enhances operational efficiency and cybersecurity.

“Cloud Monitor is well worth the investment. It shows you what is going on and allows you to have a deeper understanding of how your users are using your accounts,” Grant said. “Before Cloud Monitor, we knew things were going on but we didn’t know what and we didn’t know who. Now we do and we can put policies in place to automatically remediate the risks and make it into a teachable moment for the user. Both of which help make Hueneme’s Google Workspace environment more secure.”

Want to learn more about how Cloud Monitor could improve your district’s cybersecurity? Claim your free Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 security and safety audit today.

The post Customer Story | California School District Gains Visibility and Control Over Google Workspace Accounts 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-hueneme-elementary-school-district-ca/