NG Firewall Web Filter Soothes School’s CIPA Compliance Worries

Breakwater School

Industry:  Education

Network Size:   60 total devices and up to 140 students with BYOD for upper level students and school-provided Chromebooks.

“I am comfortable knowing that our students are protected from inappropriate content and that our network is safe as well.”

Background

Breakwater School is an independent, non-denominational day school for toddlers through 8th graders. Founded in 1956, Breakwater is located in Portland, Maine and has students from over twenty communities attending to take advantage of its low teacher-to-student classroom ratio. Graham Duncan has been with Breakwater for over seven years, and has been the Facilities and Technology Director for the last two.

Love for a Linux-based OS

As with any school, protecting students and being CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act) compliant is of top priority for not just school administrators but also system and IT administrators. When Graham became the Technology Director, he had to find a replacement to the old Cisco firewall that was no longer functioning. “Untangle being Linux-based was an instant attraction,” said Graham. With Untangle’s flexible deployment options, Graham was able to install Untangle’s NG Firewall onto an older computer. “Not having to purchase an appliance was a major factor in my decision of choosing Untangle.” Being the only IT person at Breakwater, having a solution that is easy to set up and use is also very important to Graham.

Untangle’s Web Filter Tackles CIPA Compliance

Graham downloaded and installed NG Firewall with no issues. “The product is very intuitive to use; I was able to easily set up applications and rules based on what I wanted my network to do.” After about a year, Graham realized Breakwater needed to take advantage of the paid features available with a subscription to NG Firewall Complete. With the Web Filter application, Graham is able to block access to sites with over 140 categories to choose from. “Having Web Filter installed and implemented, we are able to demonstrate we are CIPA compliant,” said Graham. In addition to ensuring the students are safe from accessing inappropriate content, Graham must ensure the network stays safe from malware, trojans and other malicious files. “Since I have been using Untangle, the Virus Blocker and Ad Blocker applications have kept the school’s network safe from virus and malware attacks.”