Secure Authentication Solutions for Education | Hideez Authentication Service for Student Data Privacy

According to the information provided by the New York State Education Department, the private data of more than a million former and current students in the state of New York was exposed during a cyberattack in January of 2022.

This is truly a staggering number and shows just how dangerous cyberattacks in the education sector can be. Identity theft in education can have life-changing consequences for students who have their data exposed or stolen.It poses the question, should schools have better security and implement more advanced cybersecurity measures to keep these education data breaches at a minimum?

We’ll answer this question and provide direct and helpful solutions to enhance school cybersecurity and prevent school cyber attacks. To do so, we’ll go over the “why, how, and what” when it comes to the best security practices for student data privacy.

WHY?

As a consequence of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, schools and universities had to adapt and shift their educational programs online. And, while this pandemic-caused shift to remote and hybrid learning may have proven convenient for most students, it has also brought on different online security challenges.

Threats can come in all shapes and forms. The issue can be in-house, for example, if some students access their peers’ data and use it to bully or blackmail them. They can also be on a much larger scale, for instance, if criminals obtain student information and sell it to third parties on the dark web.

IT teams in most educational institutions are generally spread thin as it is, so an increase in higher education cyberattacks comes as no surprise. So, to combat this increasing threat in a progressively more remote learning system, institutions turn to more advanced cybersecurity solutions.

HOW?

Protect intellectual property

When it comes to protecting students and teachers in educational institutions, there are a lot of legal requirements that need to be taken into consideration. This primarily pertains to understanding crucial K-12 privacy laws like FERPA, CIPA, and others.

To be compliant with Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools and universities need to ensure that there are no vulnerabilities in their IT infrastructure. They need to employ consistent monitoring and data encryption and stay up to date with the ever-changing regulations.

Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is arguably even more overlooked. This is because educational institutions don’t effectively protect against unauthorized disclosure and use of student data in cloud storage.

Schools subject to CIPA must ensure that minors cannot access inappropriate content on the Internet and that they are safe at all times when using direct electronic communication services. Focusing on the former, it includes restricting minors from accessing materials potentially harmful to them.

WHAT?

Let’s move to the main point of the page. That is how the Hideez Authentication Service helps schools and high-education institutions minimize student data privacy risks by protecting endpoint authentication.

Hideez offers an all-in-one solution that includes secure password management, desktop MFA, passwordless authentication based on biometric logins or QR codes, and many other features. To better understand this, we’ll take a closer look at the four main components of the Hideez Authentication Service. These are:

Hideez Server

Hideez Server is a FIDO2 / WebAuthn server & SAML 2.0 Identity Provider. It delivers passwordless FIDO2 authentication and two-factor authentication in an environment that features many users and workstations, meaning that you obtain strong authentication that doesn’t rely on shared secrets. So, in the context of cyber security and education, it’s a perfect solution for providing teacher and student authentication. For example, the Hideez Server allows IT admins to grant or restrict access to teachers, students, and other staff in a streamlined and secure manner.

Hideez Authenticator

Hideez Authenticator is a handy free mobile app available for both Android and iOS devices. Once teachers and students set it up on their mobile devices, they can utilize the app to conveniently sign in to their accounts or generate one-time QR codes. In other words, the Hideez Authenticator essentially turns the user’s smartphone device into a personal security token. And, as it meets robust authentication standards, users don’t have to worry about any unauthorized access problems or other issues with their accounts.

Hideez Keys

When it comes to ensuring better high school and college cybersecurity, the Hideez Keys are an optional addition but a very valuable one. These are small physical keys that include a built-in RFID tag. They comply with the latest cybersecurity standards and support multiple protocols. Students, teachers, and other employees can use these keys to obtain added conveniences like managing their passwords, using autofill features, and generating one-time passwords. Moreover, users can also lock or unlock Windows computers using the proximity lock feature and even open RFID door locks.

Hideez Client

The last part of the Hideez Authentication Service, but an equally important one as the previous three, the Hideez Client software for Windows personal computers ensures all of the above features work without a hitch. Like the Hideez Key, this is an optional component of the Hideez Authentication Service. It provides a connection between the keys and the server and ensures secure user credential management.

KEY BENEFITS

Of course, understanding the “why, how, and what” of the topic, we should also highlight the main benefits of the Hideez Authentication Service. Here’s a quick rundown of what security advantages you can look forward to with Hideez:

Data Encryption – All of the data is securely encrypted on a physical device. This can be done either on your phone through the Hideez Authenticator or directly through a Hideez security key.
Remote Access – With advantageous remote control access and privileged access management, teachers, students, and staff members don’t need to reveal their credentials to anyone to use educational tools and platforms.
Fast and Convenient Use – The passwordless login system allows for instant access, saving users the time they would otherwise spend on typing their credentials on every occasion they want to log in. This saves both teachers and students a lot of time in the long run.
Strong Protection – You can count on sound protection against different types of online attacks, including phishing, spoofing, and man-in-the-middle attacks.
Compliance – The Hideez Authentication Service is compliant with all of the latest modern security and privacy standards. This includes NIST, FIPS 140-2, FERPA, and CIPA.

If you want to ensure your educational institution’s compliance with the latest legal requirements, the Hideez Authentication Service is the optimal solution. You can schedule an online demo of the Hideez Service or request a free 30-day trial right away: