Talking about Computer Services

Posted on: 11 January 2016

Back in the day, permanent school records were often kept in folders and on hard paper. Now, report cards, grades, and a whole student's record can be accessed in a matter of seconds through digital file transfers. With hundreds of students going through a school each year, files can quickly add up. Manually going through a database like this would take months, so that's why it's a good idea to look into a third-party file system auditing process. There are five benefits to this type of auditing process and each one will help your school run smoothly without any unnecessary data breaches.

Student Access

Students seem to get smarter every year. Within a matter of seconds, students can easily access the school database system. If a teacher leaves their computer, a student can access passwords and the network. By running a file system audit, professionals can determine what accounts have been breached, when they were accessed, and what IP addresses they were accessed from. This can help track any changes to data like grades, personal information, or class schedules.

Private Information

A school is filled with minors and digital databases often include a lot of personal information for each child. If this information is hacked, corrupted, or vulnerable, then a lot of sensitive data could get released. By running a file system audit, technological workers can ensure that the files are protected, encrypted, and that no attacked have been run. Access can be granted to only specific accounts so that only the proper administrators are allowed to see files.

Alerts can also be set in place to notify you if anyone accesses the files or attempts to access unauthorized files.

Permanent Records

One of the more important parts of a school database is the permanent records that are held for each student. These records hold years of data and are crucial for maintaining averages and grades through middle school and high school. A file audit can ensure that these files stay clean. For example, an audit can ensure that two students with the similar names retain separate files and do not accidentally merge. If files are lost or damaged, an audit can help recover and repair the files as needed. After each semester, an audit can ensure that all of the files have been properly updated and there is no suspicious activity.

Data Transfers

Each year, schools experience new students, transfers of other students, and students that are graduating and permanently leaving. These transfers can become complicated as files are sent to additional schools and you receive new data. During a file audit, the databases can be cleaned so that dead files are removed and new files are properly organized. For example, some new students may not be properly organized in the database. A file audit can help determine what grades and specific databases the files should go in. This will help keep the school fully organized digitally.

College Applications

For high school students, a college application means everything. Files needed in a school database include report cards, recommendation letters, applications, admission test results and a student history file that includes extracurricular activities. A file audit system can help retrieve lost files and ensure that college application data has not been hacked or corrupted. This will ensure that students apply to college without any problems or issues. If a student has a concern about inaccurate records, then an administrator can easily look at the audit results to see if the student has been impacted in any way. This makes it easy to submit corrections and ensure that faulty data has no bearing on the college application process.

By having an audit performed at least once a year, you can help ensure that your school is running smoothly. Having preventative help will make it a lot easier to fix problems instead of waiting for problems to occur. For more information on file system auditing, check out a site like http://www.stealthbits.com.