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Higher education institutions face unique cybersecurity challenges due to their complex networks, diverse user base and open academic environments. With thousands of students, staff and faculty members accessing resources from various locations and devices, universities must have visibility of what’s happening on their networks and robust and responsive cybersecurity protection to help safeguard them.
This blog explores the IT challenges higher education providers face and how Progress Flowmon solutions help address these issues. We’ll provide real-world examples of educational institutions that have successfully implemented Flowmon network monitoring to improve security and operational efficiency.
The growing use of digital learning, research collaboration and campus administrative functions means that IT teams in higher education settings must contend with many devices, applications and security threats. A significant problem many face is the lack of comprehensive network visibility, making it difficult for IT administrators to monitor activities effectively. With thousands of users accessing the network simultaneously, from lecture halls to research laboratories, understanding traffic patterns and potential vulnerabilities becomes challenging.
Security threats are another primary concern. Cybercriminals frequently target universities due to their large and often loosely controlled networks. DDoS attacks, malware deployments, unauthorized access attempts and data breaches pose serious risks to operational continuity and data integrity. Moreover, compliance with regulations such as GDPR and the NIS2 framework in the EU and similar cybersecurity policies in global regions adds another layer of complexity to IT management.
Compounding these challenges is the reality that many universities operate with constrained resources. IT teams are often understaffed and underfunded, meaning that efficiency and automation are critical to keeping security measures effective. The ability to quickly detect and respond to security incidents is essential to minimizing disruptions to academic and administrative networks.
Deploying the Flowmon platform provides universities with an advanced network monitoring and security solution designed to meet the demands of complex IT environments. By delivering real-time insights into network traffic, the Flowmon platform allows IT teams to understand who is communicating within the infrastructure and how data is flowing across the network. The detailed level of visibility available helps administrators identify anomalies, troubleshoot performance issues and keep all systems operating efficiently.
One of the platform’s key strengths is its ability to detect threats proactively. The Flowmon Anomaly Detection System (ADS) leverages behavioral analysis and AI-driven analytics to identify irregular patterns that could indicate cyberthreats, such as unauthorized access, data exfiltration and network intrusions. Rather than relying on predefined attack signatures, ADS continuously learns and adapts to new threats, providing higher education institutions with enterprise-level security defense.
Incident investigation and response, both in real time and post-incident, are also significantly enhanced with Flowmon capabilities. The platform stores historical data, allowing IT teams to trace security incidents, analyze trends and make informed decisions based on past network activity. With automated reporting and a scalable architecture, organizations can maintain network security without extensive manual oversight, making the Flowmon platform a cost-effective solution that aligns with the financial realities of higher education institutions.
Many higher education institutions have benefited from Flowmon network security and visibility solutions. The following are three selections from our success stories page.
Bornego College had difficulty monitoring its network traffic and detecting security threats. By deploying the Flowmon platform, the college gained real-time monitoring capabilities and automated alerts, significantly improving its ability to identify anomalies and respond to incidents promptly. Read more.
GÉANT, a pan-European research and education network, required a scalable solution to manage and secure vast amounts of data shared across numerous institutions. Comprehensive Flowmon traffic analytics and security threat detection provided GÉANT with enhanced network transparency and proactive mitigation of security risks, maintaining seamless operations for its member institutions. Read their story.
Masaryk University, the second-largest university in the Czech Republic, was dealing with the complexity of managing multiple faculties, research units and a high volume of network connections. With Flowmon network probes and anomaly detection systems in place, the university could monitor over 30,000 public IP addresses and billions of network flows. Their Flowmon implementation resulted in a drastic reduction in security incidents requiring manual intervention while also improving the detection of threats such as botnets and data exfiltration. Find out more.
Towards the end of 2023, we held a webinar titled Progress Flowmon: How to Use the Benefits of Visibility in Higher Education.
As education and administration networks get more complex and cyberthreats continue to evolve, higher education establishments need robust, intelligent solutions to monitor and protect their networks and data. Flowmon solutions offer a powerful, scalable and IT team-friendly approach to network security, enabling organizations to detect and respond to threats more effectively. By combining advanced detection methods, intelligent prioritization and robust visibility, the Flowmon platform empowers Education IT and security teams to stay ahead of potential threats and minimize the impact of security incidents.
Discover the Benefits with a Free Flowmon Trial
Sign up for a free trial to learn how the Flowmon platform can deliver actionable insights for your organization within minutes. Our support team can assist during your free trial testing.
Continue reading...
This blog explores the IT challenges higher education providers face and how Progress Flowmon solutions help address these issues. We’ll provide real-world examples of educational institutions that have successfully implemented Flowmon network monitoring to improve security and operational efficiency.
The Issue Faced in Higher Education
The growing use of digital learning, research collaboration and campus administrative functions means that IT teams in higher education settings must contend with many devices, applications and security threats. A significant problem many face is the lack of comprehensive network visibility, making it difficult for IT administrators to monitor activities effectively. With thousands of users accessing the network simultaneously, from lecture halls to research laboratories, understanding traffic patterns and potential vulnerabilities becomes challenging.
Security threats are another primary concern. Cybercriminals frequently target universities due to their large and often loosely controlled networks. DDoS attacks, malware deployments, unauthorized access attempts and data breaches pose serious risks to operational continuity and data integrity. Moreover, compliance with regulations such as GDPR and the NIS2 framework in the EU and similar cybersecurity policies in global regions adds another layer of complexity to IT management.
Compounding these challenges is the reality that many universities operate with constrained resources. IT teams are often understaffed and underfunded, meaning that efficiency and automation are critical to keeping security measures effective. The ability to quickly detect and respond to security incidents is essential to minimizing disruptions to academic and administrative networks.
How the Flowmon Platform Helps Address These Issues
Deploying the Flowmon platform provides universities with an advanced network monitoring and security solution designed to meet the demands of complex IT environments. By delivering real-time insights into network traffic, the Flowmon platform allows IT teams to understand who is communicating within the infrastructure and how data is flowing across the network. The detailed level of visibility available helps administrators identify anomalies, troubleshoot performance issues and keep all systems operating efficiently.
One of the platform’s key strengths is its ability to detect threats proactively. The Flowmon Anomaly Detection System (ADS) leverages behavioral analysis and AI-driven analytics to identify irregular patterns that could indicate cyberthreats, such as unauthorized access, data exfiltration and network intrusions. Rather than relying on predefined attack signatures, ADS continuously learns and adapts to new threats, providing higher education institutions with enterprise-level security defense.
Incident investigation and response, both in real time and post-incident, are also significantly enhanced with Flowmon capabilities. The platform stores historical data, allowing IT teams to trace security incidents, analyze trends and make informed decisions based on past network activity. With automated reporting and a scalable architecture, organizations can maintain network security without extensive manual oversight, making the Flowmon platform a cost-effective solution that aligns with the financial realities of higher education institutions.
Case Studies
Many higher education institutions have benefited from Flowmon network security and visibility solutions. The following are three selections from our success stories page.
Bornego College had difficulty monitoring its network traffic and detecting security threats. By deploying the Flowmon platform, the college gained real-time monitoring capabilities and automated alerts, significantly improving its ability to identify anomalies and respond to incidents promptly. Read more.
GÉANT, a pan-European research and education network, required a scalable solution to manage and secure vast amounts of data shared across numerous institutions. Comprehensive Flowmon traffic analytics and security threat detection provided GÉANT with enhanced network transparency and proactive mitigation of security risks, maintaining seamless operations for its member institutions. Read their story.
Masaryk University, the second-largest university in the Czech Republic, was dealing with the complexity of managing multiple faculties, research units and a high volume of network connections. With Flowmon network probes and anomaly detection systems in place, the university could monitor over 30,000 public IP addresses and billions of network flows. Their Flowmon implementation resulted in a drastic reduction in security incidents requiring manual intervention while also improving the detection of threats such as botnets and data exfiltration. Find out more.
On-Demand Webinar
Towards the end of 2023, we held a webinar titled Progress Flowmon: How to Use the Benefits of Visibility in Higher Education.
Find Out More
As education and administration networks get more complex and cyberthreats continue to evolve, higher education establishments need robust, intelligent solutions to monitor and protect their networks and data. Flowmon solutions offer a powerful, scalable and IT team-friendly approach to network security, enabling organizations to detect and respond to threats more effectively. By combining advanced detection methods, intelligent prioritization and robust visibility, the Flowmon platform empowers Education IT and security teams to stay ahead of potential threats and minimize the impact of security incidents.
Discover the Benefits with a Free Flowmon Trial
Sign up for a free trial to learn how the Flowmon platform can deliver actionable insights for your organization within minutes. Our support team can assist during your free trial testing.
Continue reading...