Texas district locks up student data

With more than 66,000 students in 98 campuses, El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) is the seventh largest district in Texas and the 57th largest district in the United States. So it isn't hard to  imagine the amount of stored student data the district must protect every minute of every day, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). 

Recently, EPISD took steps to ensure protection of such data by investigating Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solutions. After testing various other products, EPISD chose Palisade Systems' DLP solution. With seven years’ experience using Palisade Systems, the district felt confident in continuing its relationship to include the DLP solution.

 "We have been concerned about unintentional student data loss, and we worked with Palisade to do a security assessment," noted Stephen Stiles, CTO, El Paso Independent School District. "When we saw the extent of accidental data loss, and how PacketSure's data loss prevention solution could help the district, we continued our relationship with the company."

With FERPA, school districts are coupling their push into DLP solutions with more training and education of the staff. And, as school districts submit information on a regular basis to the state education board, the top concern is to protect student data and information and ensure that no accidental data leaves the district offices.
 
"The success of Palisade Systems comes from working with long-term customers like the El Paso Independent School District and making sure that they have all the right tools and services in place to make them successful," said Christian Renaud, CEO of Palisade Systems. "With the addition of PacketSure DLP, we are helping El Paso Independent School District keep in compliance with FERPA and protect student data."
 
Palisade Systems PacketSure offers both an installed and managed solution  for the education market, and is available for school districts seeking to protect their assets and secure their information in both a hosted and managed environment.

“The educational market is one of our key customer groups, and we want to make sure our school district customers stay compliant with any new regulations or rules that may come up with FERPA," added Renaud.