University Business - December 2012 - (Page 97)

SponSored CaSe Study Lone Star ahead of its class in information security Community college system uses Verizon to upgrade IT infrastructure P OTS then asked Verizon to develop a formal and docurotecting any enterprise from security threats can be a daunting endeavor, but few organizational structures mented framework that would apply industry standards to are more difficult to secure than a college or university. Lone Star’s security infrastructure. Verizon developed a frameStudents, faculty, administrators and alumni—each group work-based assessment using the ISO 27000 family of informahas differing IT needs, creating not just one, but many unique tion security standards, which covers over 600 requirements across 12 categories. security challenges. A scorecard was developed Because of that complexity, that identified the gaps between many colleges are finding it highly Lone Star’s security controls and beneficial to bring in a third-party those outlined in the ISO stanexpert to assess existing security dards. The ISO 27000 framework capabilities and make recommennow provides the basis for evaludations to help strengthen security ating campus security processes controls. and procedures, empowering The Lone Star Community ColLone Star to manage, monitor and lege System offers a wide range of align its security controls with the educational opportunities, includglobal standards. ing associate degree programs and Verizon was also tapped to write degree programs designed to help a capstone program to formally students transfer to senior instituestablish security policies for Lone tions, as well as adult education and “The ability to have outside Star, which are now integrated into literacy courses. The administrathe college’s governance and mantion at Lone Star is committed to experts to strengthen the agement policy. providing a dynamic learning envienvironment and develop Verizon is helping the school ronment that empowers commumaintain compliance with secunity members to succeed in today’s policies was critical. Every rity regulations and mandates, too. competitive work environment. penny we spent with Verizon “Lone Star has always maintained To better support the instituwas worth spending. ” a careful watch on compliance,” tion’s goals, Lone Star’s Office says Link Alander, associate vice of Technology Services (OTS) chancellor, technology services, recently began an initiative to consolidate and upgrade IT resources across the campuses to “but sometimes you need that outside expertise to make sure that you’re staying on top of things.” increase systemwide access, efficiency, and effectiveness. Lone Star is realizing significant benefits from Verizon’s And because colleges are a magnet for a wide range of threats, Shah Ardalan, Lone Star’s vice chancellor and chief security engagements. It now has segmented architecture information officer, also felt it was critical to go the extra mile that protects the user community from internal and external to protect students’ safety and identity, as well as the school’s threats. This allows Lone Star to provide open access to the community, while still protecting sensitive data and systems— reputation. The OTS team had built an effective rules-based security and its students and faculty. “The ability to have outside experts to strengthen the envifoundation, but Ardalan wanted a trusted third party to test the college’s security systems. OTS chose Verizon because of ronment and develop policies to give us peace of mind was critical,” says Alander. “Every penny we spent with Verizon its established reputation as a security leader. Verizon ran a series of penetration tests, trying to com- was worth spending.” promise Lone Star’s internal, external, and wireless systems. The results were eye opening for the Lone Star team. The fact- To learn more, visit verizonwireless.com/education based, objective analysis verified that OTS needed to address a number of security issues in its multi-layered infrastructure, including serious risks in the wireless environment. universitybusiness.com December 2012 | 97 http://www.verizonwireless.com/education http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - December 2012

University Business - December 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note
College Index
Ad Index
Behind the News
Money Matters
Independent Outlook
5 Reasons Flipped Classrooms Work
Test Driving Mobile
Open Source Myth Busters
Models of Efficiency
1st Annual Readers’ Choice Awards
Education Innovators
Viewpoint
Endowments: New Questions
End Note

University Business - December 2012