Astaro offers schools free web security software

By SecurityAsia Editors | Nov 8, 2010

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Asia is increasingly exposed to cyber-attacks, spurred on by the growth of IT infrastructure and broadband access in the region. According to a report from non-profit US cyber-crime research organisation Team Cymru, countries in Asia are now facing the same level and type of cyber-attacks as the countries in the west.

Edison Yu, Frost & Sullivan’s industry analyst, ICT practice, Asia Pacific, suggests that users are sometimes the source of attacks; they are voluntarily keying in their personal information online. This is seen particularly on social media platforms and instant messaging programmes.

Children are going online at a younger age and more often than before with schools introducing e-learning as part of their curriculum. While the Internet holds educational benefits for children such as conducting research, doing their homework and making new friends, it puts them at risk of experiencing online harassment and bullying, pornography or harmful content. Children may also unknowingly trigger threats such as clickjacking, malware attacks, spyware and botnets.

The plan to protect children
Astaro, a Unified Threat Management (UTM) vendor, announced that they have launched an education programme that offers primary and secondary schools across Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) Astaro’s Essential Firewall and a three-year web security subscription for free.

Named the SpyderWeb SchoolGuard programme, Astaro aims to protect young children in Asia from cyber-threats, including instilling responsible Internet usage habits as well as allowing schools to block or control access to potentially malicious and explicit websites.

The Essential Firewall and three-year web security subscription that typically cost USD $5,160 will provide primary and secondary schools access to Astaro’s full suite of web filtering. This allows schools to monitor their students’ activities online, scan for viruses and malware, as well as block selectable categories of Web usage and Internet sites.
 

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