WHITEPAPER

MANAGING IOT IN
HIGHER
EDUCATION
 MANAGING IOT IN HIGHER EDUCATION WHITEPAPER
Students bringing their devices on campus isn’t the
only concern for universities anymore; universities
now have smart devices—like refrigerators, vending
machines, fitness equipment, lab equipment and
TVs—that are also internet-enabled. With all of these
unmanaged devices connecting to the university’s
network, it is imperative that IT administrators gain
visibility into all traffic and devices to better understand
the expected (and acceptable or unacceptable)
behaviors of those devices.
RECENT ATTACKS
Higher education has seen a rise in targeted attacks
in the last few years. In fact, the education industry
ranked the worst in cybersecurity out of 17 other major
industries.1 One well-known attack on a university
happened in 2017, when hackers brought down the
university’s network via a DNS attack. Hackers were
able to gain access to over 5,000 devices––including
vending machines, refrigerators and lights that still had
default passwords––and force them to make spurious
DNS requests every 15 minutes, bringing the university’s
network down and restricting access to the majority of
internet services.2
While the university was not named, the reason for the
hack was directly linked to the weak passwords on the
connected devices. Hackers are not pumping the breaks
when it comes to targeting universities. In the beginning
of 2018, over 300 universities worldwide suffered from a
major cyberattack when Iranian hackers used password
spray attacks to penetrate systems.3 Universities must be
proactive and take steps to manage IoT devices on the
network. By simply placing these devices on a separate
network, the hack could have been contained.
2
DEMAND FOR BANDWIDTH
Protecting the university from hackers and attacks is not
the only concern for IT administrators. Recreational traffic
can also threaten the utility of the network by demanding
bandwidth. Students are accessing more bandwidth-
intensive, streaming content, and they require increased
broadband capacity to do so. Users within higher education
have also been known to illegally download content
from sources like Tor and other file sharing networks.
Furthermore, content streaming sites like Netflix, HBO
GO and Hulu can become an issue as they heavily tax the
bandwidth available on campus. Throughout the day and
night, students are also increasingly accessing curriculum-
related information online.
Universities are moving towards online resources to
streamline the student experience, including online
portals to submit projects and homework, as well
as providing remote students the ability to join the
classroom. Science departments are utilizing IoT devices
for laboratory experiments, and fitness centers now
engage students to connect their wearables.
Balancing the network to prioritize web traffic for
educational purposes requires a network traffic
management solution that can identify, control and
shape traffic to websites as well as applications.
PAIN POINTS AND HOW TO SOLVE THEM
Maintaining bandwidth availability, managing IoT devices
and ensuring the network is protected are among the top
concerns for a higher education IT administrator. Often,
university IT departments are resource-constrained, so
finding a single solution that can address all of these
concerns is key.
 MANAGING IOT IN HIGHER EDUCATION WHITEPAPER
All of these pain points can be solved through Untangle’s
NG Firewall, an all-in-one network security solution.
Untangle allows administrators to do more than the
basic block/allow of traditional web filters by identifying
and controlling bandwidth hogging applications while
optimizing access to resources for educational and
administrative purposes.
Separating IoT devices from the main network is crucial
to protecting personal data and limiting the impact if an
attack were to occur. Untangle allows administrators to
set up separate networks for any scenario; for example,
guests, students, or IoT devices and enforce separate
policies for each.
Untangle provides visibility
into and control over the entire
network and all connected
devices, so decision-makers can
prioritize traffic, mitigate the
threat of malware and effectively
manage their bandwidth
resources. Contact us today to
learn how Untangle can help you.
3
Untangle, Inc.
100 W. San Fernando St., Ste. 565
San Jose, CA 95113
www.untangle.com
ABOUT US
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people’s digital lives at home, work and
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people, their computers and networks around
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SOURCES
1 https://securityscorecard.com/resources/2018-education-report
2 http://www.networkworld.com/article/3168763/security/university-
attacked-by-its-own-vending-machines-smart-light-bulbs-and-5-000-
iot-devices.html
3 https://www.informationsecuritybuzz.com/articles/cyber-attacks-
history-in-higher-education/