Adopt a zero trust architecture to modernize K-12 and higher education cybersecurity and networking

Protect and empower users
Protect and empower users
Safeguard sensitive data
Safeguard sensitive data
Meet regulatory compliance
Meet regulatory compliance

The Problem

Legacy security is ineffective against modern ransomware

Every year, ransomware in the education sector grows. Attackers are getting more focused, often targeting specific schools and administrators with convincing AI-generated phishing campaigns. Their payloads increasingly hide in encrypted traffic, exploiting blind spots in many K-12 and higher education systems.

 

These critical gaps put students, teachers, staff, and sensitive data at risk. As the sector faces ever more advanced attacks, schools need a more effective way to stop them.

#4
global target of ransomware in 2024—up from #9 in 2023
25%
increase in ransomware attacks on education in 2024
87.2%
of attacks now hide in encrypted channels

Solution Overview

Eliminate blind spots to stop ransomware cold

The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ platform enables seamless, secure access for employees and students in K-12 and higher education. Built on a cloud native zero trust architecture, it inspects 100% of TLS/SSL traffic to find and block ransomware and other advanced threats.

Secure your users
Secure your users

Empower users to work, teach, and learn from any device or location. Extend secure access to the internet, SaaS, and private apps while preventing sophisticated threats and data loss.

Secure your workloads
Secure your workloads

Deliver secure cloud-to-internet, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-data center connectivity. Eliminate the attack surface, prevent lateral movement, and reduce the risk of breaches.

Secure your research
Secure your research

Manage policy-based, secure third-party access to sensitive data and intellectual property, with full Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and StateRAMP compliance.

Benefits

Securely modernize education IT

Enforce zero trust access
Enforce zero trust access

Prevent data loss from endpoints, SaaS, and the cloud as a result of accidental exposure or external threats.

Protect users, data, and devices
Protect users, data, and devices

Deploy comprehensive, integrated cyberthreat and data loss prevention built on zero trust principles.

Optimize digital experiences
Optimize digital experiences

Give users fast, reliable, secure app access from anywhere, and enjoy centralized visibility and control.

Reduce costs and complexity
Reduce costs and complexity

Eliminate firewalls, VPNs, ExpressRoute, Direct Connect, and the overhead required to maintain them.

Use Cases

A cloud-first approach for education

Enhance user experiences

Give users consistent, seamless experiences when connecting to the internet or applications, no matter their device or location. Quickly diagnose and fix performance issues from a central console.

Replace VPN and VDI solutions

Broker direct, one-to-one connections between authorized users and specific apps with the world's most deployed ZTNA solution. Keep users off the network, and apps hidden from the public internet.

Reduce costs and improve scalability

Minimize capex and scale up or down according to your needs. Take advantage of a simple subscription model with per-user pricing and no data caps or bandwidth limits.

Comply with CIPA, StateRAMP, CMMC, and more

Effectively block or filter harmful content, protect controlled unclassified information (CUI) and other sensitive data, and gain complete visibility for security assessments.

Secure shared services

Eliminate the need for security stacks with an efficient multitenant architecture. Share threat information across a global install base to improve cyber defense and prevent unauthorized access.

Customer Success Stories

3,500 students300 employees

“We can unify zero trust for all our users with a single platform. At the same time, we have a lot of flexibility.”

Ronni Wilkinson, Dir., IT Services, University of South Carolina

1 million users2 million devices

“We needed a holistic solution that would strengthen our visibility ... That’s exactly what we found in Zscaler.”

Demond Waters, CISO, New York City Department of Education

28,000 students2,500 faculty5,000 staff

“During a meeting, when I informed people that they don’t have to do MFA or connect to VPNs anymore, they erupted in applause.”

Dan Han CISO, Virginia Commonwealth University

3,500 students300 employees

“We can unify zero trust for all our users with a single platform. At the same time, we have a lot of flexibility.”

Ronni Wilkinson, Dir., IT Services, University of South Carolina

1 million users2 million devices

“We needed a holistic solution that would strengthen our visibility ... That’s exactly what we found in Zscaler.”

Demond Waters, CISO, New York City Department of Education

28,000 students2,500 faculty5,000 staff

“During a meeting, when I informed people that they don’t have to do MFA or connect to VPNs anymore, they erupted in applause.”

Dan Han CISO, Virginia Commonwealth University

3,500 students300 employees

“We can unify zero trust for all our users with a single platform. At the same time, we have a lot of flexibility.”

Ronni Wilkinson, Dir., IT Services, University of South Carolina

1 million users2 million devices

“We needed a holistic solution that would strengthen our visibility ... That’s exactly what we found in Zscaler.”

Demond Waters, CISO, New York City Department of Education

28,000 students2,500 faculty5,000 staff

“During a meeting, when I informed people that they don’t have to do MFA or connect to VPNs anymore, they erupted in applause.”

Dan Han CISO, Virginia Commonwealth University

Univ. of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance
Univ. of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance

University of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance

NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment
NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment

NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment

Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access
Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access

Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access

Univ. of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance
Univ. of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance

University of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance

NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment
NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment

NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment

Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access
Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access

Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access

Univ. of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance
Univ. of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance

University of South Carolina achieves CMMC compliance

NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment
NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment

NYC DOE enables a safe, CIPA-compliant learning environment

Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access
Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access

Virginia Commonwealth Univ. provides simple, secure remote access

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PARTNERS

Partner ecosystem for education

Tight integrations ensure our services are easy to deploy and manage in today's K-12 and Higher Education environments.

Alliances
AWS
Crowdstrike
Microssoft
VM ware
Splunk
service-now
Channel
carasoft
world-wide
SHI
CDW
Service Providers
at&t
Verizon
Mettel
COMCAST
Lumen
Contract Vehicles

We proudly serve education institutions through a variety of contract vehicles

illinois-learning-technology
mhec
vascupp
new-jersy-school-boards-association
cooperative-services
omnia

Compliance

CMMC 2.0 compliance for research funding

The United States Department of Defense requires universities to meet CMMC 2.0 compliance to qualify for certain funding opportunities. Learn how the Zero Trust Exchange can help your school comply.

cmmc-2-0-compliance

Request a demo

See how a zero trust architecture delivers seamless access and cybersecurity in education environments.