2021

World classcybersecurity
available for all

bolton-sfc.ac.uk

Affordable Kaspersky solutions, commitment to greatcustomer service and fast deployment help leading UK sixth
form college recover in style from damaging cyberattack.
Bolton Sixth Form College is one of the best performing specialist A Level colleges in the UK,delivering courses for 1,800 young people aged between 16 and 19.

Higher education• United Kingdom• Using Kaspersky Endpoint Security for
Business Advanced, Kaspersky Endpoint
Detection and Response and Kaspersky
Security for Microsoft Office 365• 1,200 protected endpoints• 10 minutes to set up Kaspersky Securityfor Microsoft Office 365

The college, located in a state-of-the-art town centre campus in Greater Manchester in
the north of England, is a beacon of educational excellence, consistently outperforming
UK national average exam results.
Despite the teaching challenges created by COVID-19, in 2020 Bolton Sixth Form
College recorded a 100 percent pass rate by its students in no fewer than 57 A Level
subjects. As a result, the college has one of the highest progression rates into higher
education of any sixth form in the UK.

Challenge
As a modern, high performance organisation, robust and fully functioning IT systems
are vital to the smooth running of every aspect of college life.

“It was great to discoverthat not only was
Kaspersky by far
the best solution,
it was also one of
the most affordable
within my budget.”
Jon Evans, Head of IT and Estates,
Bolton Sixth Form College

As well as providing the digital tools that help students achieve great results,
Bolton Sixth Form College uses the latest technology for most of its operational
activities too, such as document management, interview and timetabling processes,
and its lighting, air conditioning, building access controls and CCTV systems.
The college holds large quantities of personal, professional and financial data, including
the priceless academic work that its young people are generating to achieve theircareer goals. Consequently, college managers take every step possible, within tightpublic sector budget constraints, to ensure that its IT and data protection is robust
and fit for purpose.
With the practical impacts on students and staff caused by COVID-19 andsophisticated threats from cybercriminals, there are huge challenges facing IT
professionals in the education sector. Even the best prepared, like Bolton Sixth
Form College, are still prime targets.

The Kaspersky solution
Jon Evans, Head of IT and Estates at Bolton Sixth Form College, faced one of thebiggest challenges of his career in the summer of 2020, when, at the height of thepandemic and during the busy exam result and student enrollment periods, he arrived
at work to find that college IT systems had been the target of a serious attack.
“It was a total shock, our servers had shut down and we couldn’t switch them on,”recalls Jon. “When we did a thorough check, we realised it was a cyberattack andthat our data had been encrypted. We immediately went into recovery mode, closed
the college, explained the situation to everyone and, thankfully, through our cyber
insurance, we very quickly got the technical expertise and support we needed.
“Fortunately, we were able to retrieve the majority of our most important data and,after weeks of long days and weekend working, we were able to recover. It was very
stressful but, in the end, we only had to delay college reopening by one week.
“When you think of what’s involved to enable 1,200 PCs and laptops to function
normally, and for systems to operate smoothly, it was a fantastic effort by lots ofpeople. But I was determined to identify a long-term solution that would provide
the protection we need to prevent this from happening again.”2

Quality on a budget
Commitment
Extensive proof ofconcept builds trustand confidence

When Jon began exploring his options, a conversation with his local education IT
solution provider, CC Communications, led to a meeting with Kaspersky. Despite beingaware of Kaspersky’s reputation and the quality of its technology, Jon was unsure if
partnering with Kaspersky would be achievable within his budget.
“It was great to discover that not only was Kaspersky by far the best solution, it wasalso one of the most affordable within my budget. That was a pleasant surprise.”Affordability
World-class technology
is available within public
sector budgets

Peace of mind
Automation and dashboards
provide visibility and control

Speed
Solutions can berolled out in minutes

Jon selected Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business Advanced for all PCs andlaptops, with the added protection of Kaspersky Endpoint Detection and Response(EDR). EDR provides comprehensive visibility across all endpoints on the college
network, enabling the automation of routine tasks to discover, prioritise, investigate
and neutralise complex threats.
Then Jon added Kaspersky’s bespoke security for the college’s data-heavy Microsoft
Office 365 estate, in particular for extra protection for the college’s extensive use ofemail, thought to be the source of the original attack.
“I really liked being able to select the right combination of solutions and features tomeet our precise needs, rather than having to buy packages that contain some things
that we don’t need.
“Then the proof of concept went into a lot of detail, nothing was too much trouble
and this all gave me real trust and confidence both in the technology itself but also
the advice I was getting. I felt that the Kaspersky team was really committed to me
and the college and wanted us to get the very best from the solution.
“Kaspersky’s team demonstrated exactly how features like patch management and
EDR would operate – and the way the team set up the system is the way it’s running tothis day. It was impressive and a total contrast to other companies who seemed more
focused on selling us things.
“EDR is a very automated system, it will stop things and let me know. It’s learning all thetime and the dashboard enables me to see exactly what’s going on and what steps totake when and where necessary. Kaspersky Security for Microsoft Office 365 took me
ten minutes set up, it’s that simple and it’s just working away constantly, scanning thebackground, looking for phishing emails and mass mails.
“Peace of mind is priceless and knowing that Kaspersky technology is working
efficiently, with lots of built-in automation, gives us a level of visibility and control
that we’ve just never had before.”3

Shared experience
The UK Information Commissioner has reviewed Bolton Sixth Form College event andhas approved the enhanced security provisions that Jon Evans and his colleagues have
put in place with Kaspersky.
“Other colleges have been in touch too,” explains Jon. “They want to find out what
happened to us and how we recovered, so it’s been rewarding to share our experienceand to help them keep their colleges and students safe in the future.”

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