CDW-G publishes security self-assessment tool for schools

July 14, 2008
Tool allows schools to rate their security preparedness against national benchmark

Late last month, CDW-G published their 2008 School Safety Index Self-Assessment Tool, which allows schools to see how their security measures compare to the national school safety average.

The self-assessment tool was published as a supplement to the 2008 CDW-G School Safety Index, a nationwide survey of public school district IT and security directors, which was released in May. Nearly one-third of the surveyĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s respondents said that their districtĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s security needed improvement.

According to a statement released by CDW-G, The self-assessment tool scores schoolsĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢ cyber and physical security on eight safety indicators or strengths including; district cooperation, data monitoring, network access, user authentication, education, security tools, local authority communication, and emergency communication. It also scores their IT and physical security on four, so-called "contraindicators" or weaknesses including; IT breaches, IT barriers, physical breaches, and physical barriers.

CDW-GĆ¢ā‚¬ā„¢s self-assessment tool can be found online at www.schoolsafetyindex.com.