Taos Academy (TA) is a state-funded charter school, serving grades 5-12. The school opened in 2009, offering a hybrid learning model that combines direct and digital instruction. TA has a growing student body of several hundred students and over 50 faculty members. The school’s cybersecurity is managed by a single IT director, Kenny Shannon, who has a broad range of other responsibilities.
The Challenge
Achieving optimal email security without increasing workload.
TA faced a particular set of challenges when it came to the school’s email security and its vulnerability to phishing and spoofing attacks.
Email Overload
School administrators and staff are inundated with many emails daily. This volume of emails, combined with a lack of experience in identifying suspicious emails, makes it challenging for administrators to identify phishing and spoofing attempts. Security training for faculty and staff can be a good second line of defense, but it is not enough to defend against more sophisticated phishing tactics. Staff might overlook security protocols and are prone to human error, even with regular security training.
Overly Complex Tools
TA’s security stack consisted of multiple tools that required complex configurations and ongoing upkeep. A lack of IT resources meant that Shannon needed a simpler and more self-sufficient tool when it came to adding an email security solution to his stack. He needed a tool that would handle critical security incidents without adding to the workload.
Insufficient Existing Email Security Solution
TA was using Google Workspace, which offers basic email protection. However, this platform does not stop more sophisticated phishing attacks, rendering it an insufficient solution for TA’s data protection needs. Shannon needed a solution that would support Google Workspace and add an extra layer of security to their email system.
Delayed Response Time
Email security alerts, such as for domain blocking, often require immediate action to keep cyberthreats at bay. TA’s one-man IT team wasn’t always able to address email security fast enough.
Limited IT Resources
With only one IT person responsible for all cybersecurity needs alongside a range of other IT tasks, Shannon was stretched thin. The heavy burden made it difficult to address security needs as promptly and thoroughly as he wanted to.
“My goal was to streamline and make things more efficient for everyone’s workload, including my own.”
The Solution
An automated security tool that resolves email security threats while reducing IT workload. Taos Academy found Coro’s email security tool a time saving and workload reducing solution, that effectively safeguards against phishing and spoofing.
Resource Saving
Coro proved to be an ideal solution because it acts as a first line of defense, identifying suspicious emails early and blocking harmful ones before they make their way into the organization. On the side of educating email users, Coro offers the ability to send educational materials through the console. By using Coro, Shannon was able to protect his staff without adding to his own workload.
“My goal was to streamline and make things more efficient for everyone’s workload, including my own.”
Powerful Automation
Shannon chose Coro for its automation capabilities, which caught things he had missed.
“I wanted something that would be more comprehensive, more active, and participatory, especially when it came to the school administrators and office staff, because they are dealing with dozens and dozens of emails every single day. We felt Coro’s effect immediately, it completely altered workloads for all staff.”
Trusted Partnership
Taos Academy was impressed with Coro’s continued evolution.
“The experience over the past year has been that the product keeps evolving. There were new features added over time. Coro is an intuitive product to begin with. I don’t have to read forums and look through manuals as much to operate it. Which, unfortunately, is a common thing when adopting new products. The improvements that are constantly being made make a significant change to functionality. I don’t have to click around too much to figure out how to do what I want to do.”
“Thanks to Coro’s behavioural analysis, which molds and adjusts the tool over time, accuracy grew and security precision continued to evolve over time. This gave me peace of mind that our staff will be protected, without adding to our workload.”
The Value
Coro’s platform automatically detects and remediates the many security threats that TA faces, without IT teams having to worry, investigate, or fix issues themselves. Since switching, Shannon has kept TA safer and even saved time.
For TA’s IT Director, Coro offered better automation capabilities, which caught things he had missed. He wanted something that would be more comprehensive, more active, and participatory. Especially when it came to the school administrators and office staff, because they are dealing with dozens and dozens of emails every single day.
Partnership
“Coro showed that they really care. That sort of thing creates a relationship and a loyalty that is beyond a customer-vendor relationship.”
Ease Of Use
“Coro ticked all the boxes straight away. When I saw it in action, I thought, this is exactly what I’m looking for.”
An Answer to Human Error
“I jump around between a lot of tasks, and because security is not my only responsibility, it could be a while before I see alerts. If they are urgent and need immediate resolution, I need Coro. This lag time is critical for a security event to happen.”
Resource Management
“The amount of time I spend on security issues has been cut down from two hours a day to 10 minutes.”
“The best thing Coro has given me is taking away the heavy lifting. It is a combination of time saved, a cost-effective approach, and the peace of mind that email security is covered.”
