Today’s university students are more computer savvy than ever before, using a wide range of applications for socializing, entertainment and fostering their education. In analyzing 35 university networks around the world, Palo Alto Networks found a wide range of applications that span the social, entertainment and educational spectrum. One of the more interesting sets of statistics uncovered during the analysis was how frequently the use of external proxies, encrypted tunnels and remote access applications were being used. This finding is somewhat contradictory to the assumption that university networks are open. The theory being that if the networks are open, then why would there be a need to use applications that can bypass security? Are the students being overly cautious? Or are the universities exerting stricter traffic controls? Regardless of the underlying reasons, the frequency that these applications were seen was quite surprising.
Steve Rielly is an IT Security consultant of 17 years, working for security vendors such as Trend Micro, Symantec and an International consultant for Primary Insight. Rielly is now the Director of Katana Technologies, which is the primary partner for Palo Alto Networks, and Imperva, the founders of next generation network security solutions