Enhanced Cybersecurity Service
Connectivity to the WNYRIC WAN is required for most services. In response to state audits, expanded WiFi (guest & BYOD) access in districts, pervasive malware/ransomware and cyber attacks, the WNYRIC will provide customized network security practices for the district. These services may add to, replace, or supplement the district's current operations. Service areas include network security topics such as regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing using an outside vendor (as billed), enhanced security event monitoring and alerting, asset classification and control, user activity monitoring and reporting, advanced threat detection and mitigation, server log monitoring and event correlation. Additionally, the WNYRIC will assist the district in implementing a secure network through network segmentation of critical assets and regular auditing of firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, VPNs, servers and other systems as appropriate. The WNYRIC will also assist the district in developing an incident response plan and other policies through the use of best practice methodologies and templates.
Enhanced Cybersecurity Service
Information and cyber security is an area that has become critically important as educational resources, CBT and administrative functions are dependent upon technology in the district, at the RIC, and in the cloud. Districts participating in our enhanced cybersecurity service will gain robust monitoring, detection and prevention services to help protect their critical resources and information. The service utilizes industry standard best practices to exceed mandated compliance (CIPA/FERPA) and NYS auditing guidelines. A subset of the services provided include:
- Regular vulnerability and penetration testing of district servers, control systems (HVAC, IP surveillance, etc.), network equipment and other systems as required
- Security Operations Center (SOC) monitoring of network traffic to detect anomalies, compromised systems and malicious hosts attempting to gain access to district resources
- User level activity monitoring and reporting. Web traffic detail, applications, bandwidth usage, users subverting content filtering and firewalls
- Application prioritization – the ability to create customized policies to guarantee network availability (bandwidth) to critical applications, for example, computer-based testing
- Malware and virus detection – blocking or detection of malicious software from email attachments, drive-by downloads, malicious web sites and more
- DNS security – identify infected systems while also preventing malware from communicating back to command and control servers
- Phishing testing - Evaulate district staff with planned (at least annually, quarterly available) simulated malicious emails to educate on social engineering techniques.
- Phishing training - notification of real-time phishing threats attacking the region with training on indentification of the threat and how to mitigate if the user inadvertently subjected to its request.
- 150 Licenses of Forticlient managed by FortiEMS - Sun Setting June 30th, 2022
- Additional licenses available to purchase through 650.845.82 Special Projects - Antivirus Licenses
Service benefits:
- Identify insecure host and network security policies, vulnerable software packages, critical operating system and application patches automatically with guidance on how to remediate these issues
- Combination of custom, automated analytics and human investigation to help identify issues as quickly as possible and work with appropriate personnel to get them corrected
- Advanced data analysis to help identify user and application requirements to aid in planning of upgrades to infrastructure and network services
- Guarantee availability for essential educational resources
- Help protect student and staff systems from becoming compromised above and beyond local antivirus/antimalware software
- Improve responsiveness to issues by providing guidance to appropriate district and/or BOCES staff in assessing and correcting issues
Prepare the district for NYS Comptroller audits by utilizing technologies and designs that exceed their recommendations
District Responsibilities:
- Provide the Service Team with contact information (primary/backup staff member(s) for notification and communication.
- Provide replacement contacts when changes occur in the district.
- Schedule monthly internal (inside the District Firewall) credentialed vulnerability testing with the team.
- Schedule monthly external (outside the Perimeter Firewall) (conducted by a 3rd party) non-credentialed vulnerability testing with the team.
- Schedule monthly internal (inside the Perimeter Firewall) penetration scans with the team.
- Schedule phishing testing (maximum 4 times per year) at least annually with the team.
- Review all reports provided by the service with vulnerabilites, threats, compromised systems, malicious hosts, etc.
- Prioritize and mitigate any reported threats with their utmost diligence.
- Work with the team to evaluate the Intrusion Detection System (IDS) and Intrusive Prevention System (IPS) settings to validate they are providing the best security to detect and prevent malicious attacks.
The WNYRIC utilizes cost effective best practices determined by research that allows our experienced and trained technical staff to perform robust testing and support of the WNYRIC network in the areas of security, infrastructure, energy management, virtualization strategies, disaster recovery and business continuity. Therefore, we are able to be a district advocate for vendor contract issues and aggressively negotiate contract pricing and performance terms. Staff follow best practices in order to provide necessary security as it relates to the most recent student, teacher and principal data security and privacy regulations.
Service Desk can be reached Monday – Friday from 7:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. by calling (716) 821-7171, 1-800-872-0780. A representative will be available from 4:30 p.m. through 11:00 p.m. to assist you with calls regarding emergency situations. During all other hours and holidays, a caller will receive important information regarding coverage.