As the back-to-school season begins, K-12 tech leaders face many cybersecurity and safety challenges. To help smooth the transition to a secure start to the 2024-2025 school year, we recently hosted a webinar featuring Samuel Hoch, the Technology Director at Catoosa Public Schools, and Robert Batson, the Technology Director at Tahlequah Public Schools.

In this webinar, Samuel and Robert shared their best practices and proactive strategies for addressing cybersecurity and safety concerns in the upcoming school year. One of the most pressing topics discussed was self-harm, suicide, and online predation, all of which pose serious risks to student safety. You can watch the full webinar recording here.

Schools have both a moral and legal obligation to address these risks. Unfortunately, educators and school staff may find themselves facing the difficult task of identifying and responding to such dangers. But there is hope. By leveraging solutions like Cloud Monitor, schools can take a proactive stance in protecting their students from these serious threats.

Self-Harm and Suicide Prevention

“Our end goal is teaching students and keeping them safe.”

–Samuel Hoch, the Technology Director at Catoosa Public Schools

Self-harm and suicide among students are alarming trends. According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death for teens 14-18. Schools play a critical role in addressing these risks, and the need for proactive prevention strategies is more important than ever.  

Cloud-based solutions like Cloud Monitor offer a powerful way to detect early warning signs of self-harm or suicidal ideation. By scanning your Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 domain for risky behavior, Cloud Monitor automatically identifies signs that a student may be in distress.

Samuel Hoch shared an impactful story during the webinar:

“Late one evening, I received an email notification from Cloud Monitor about a student whose online behavior showed they were considering moving to the next level of harming themselves. Concerned for their safety, I immediately contacted our school counselor, SRO, principal, and assistant principal. This one instance justified the cost of Cloud Monitor, hands down. Saving that student was 100 percent worth it.” 

–Samuel Hoch, the Technology Director at Catoosa Public Schools

With Cloud Monitor’s real-time student safety alerts, Sam was easily able to intervene and potentially save a student’s life. This technology empowers educators to identify at-risk students and take immediate action to prevent tragedies before they occur.

Online Predation

Online predation in schools is a lot more prevalent than you think. Every day, an estimated 500,000 predators are active online, using the internet to communicate, groom, and manipulate children. One of the most common dangerous ways predators take advantage of students is sextortion—when a malicious adult threatens to expose a young person’s personal information if not provided with sexual images or meet in person. 

During his free trial of Cloud Monitor, Robert Batson experienced first-hand how it can protect students from predation: 

“Our team was alerted to an email exchange between a foster student and an online predator in another state. Without Cloud Monitor scanning our Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 domains for keywords, phrases, and images, we would have had no idea this was happening.”

Robert Batson, the Technology Director at Tahlequah Public Schools

Cloud Monitor’s advanced scanning capabilities help districts identify suspicious online behavior early, allowing schools to take immediate actions. By seamlessly integrating into your Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 cloud domains, Cloud Monitor can alert administrators to threats that could otherwise go unnoticed. 

Robert’s experience with Cloud Monitor convinced him of its value. “The free trial of Cloud Monitor convinced us to buy the product. I highly recommend that everyone give it a try,” he added.  

Protect Student Safety with Cloud Monitor

By proactively monitoring your district’s cloud domain, Cloud Monitor allows you to rapidly respond to risks such as self-harm, suicidal ideation, and online predation before it’s too late. Through real-time email notifications, Cloud Monitor provides detailed information about the incident, document ownership, contributors, text history, sharing details, and more. This allows you to make informed decisions, effectively intervene, and promptly alert district administrators when needed. 

One of the standout features of Cloud Monitor is its customizable alert system. Robert explains, “A great feature of Cloud Monitor is the ability to notify school administrators and counselors,” says Robert at our recent webinar. “I’ve customized it to send any student safety warnings directly to the administration and counselors while I focus on detecting data leaks.” 

With Cloud Monitor’s customizable alerts, schools can respond to safety threats while protecting student privacy. By discreetly notifying the right personnel, schools can intervene without unnecessarily exposing a student’s mental health or personal details, making sure they receive the help they need in a safe and respectful manner.

Learn more about how ManagedMethods can help you create a safe learning environment, and check out our back-to-school technology guide today.

The post Enhancing School Safety with Cloud Monitor: A Powerful Cyber Safety Protection Tool 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 Alexa Sander. Read the original post at: https://managedmethods.com/blog/cloud-monitor-for-cyber-safety/