Internet and email management and security provider NetBox Blue and Christian Schools Australia (CSA) have announced a partnership to help member schools tackle cyber bullying, inappropriate internet use and other threats of the virtual world. The NetBox Blue SecurED solution is specifically designed to give schools the tools to provide their duty of care to internet and email enabled students. The suite of features includes email filtering, web filtering as well as advanced spam filtering and virus protection which can improve office productivity and dramatically reduce the time spent managing a school’s network.   CSA has more than 150 member schools around the country.  With Christian beliefs at the core of its philosophy, upholding human dignity is a very important value. It sees NetBox Blue as an important partner in helping to protect that value at a time when technology is being used to degrade people, with far reaching and damaging consequences.

“Technology is a wonderful tool for teaching and our Christian Schools embrace it,” CSA Chief Executive Officer Stephen O’Doherty says. “We are using technology to reach kids in appropriate ways and that includes social networking and collaborative work over the internet. All of these are wonderful tools, but like anything man-made, it can also have a very negative side. The dangers of the world our kids are growing up in are different from the dangers that faced me and are even more profound.”

Cyber bullying and internet abuse are just two of the threats facing today’s students.

“When I grew up the main threat was that I might fall off my bike. These days kids are growing up in world that confronts them with different forms of reality and values which frankly can be very damaging, and have far reaching effects. The theft of their identity, the theft of their very personhood is a problem that they face. Cyber bullying is a new and even nastier face of a problem that has been part of the human condition forever. We must act to protect our kids from these things and teach them good protective behavior themselves. That’s why we value this partnership with NetBox Blue.

“NetBox Blue provides an electronic barrier to protect students from what can be very damaging and harmful occurrences in the virtual world,” Mr O’Doherty says. “It is an ideal solution for schools to deal with the increasingly complex task of providing duty of care for kids using technology at school.”

NetBox Blue Chairman John Fison has welcomed the partnership with CSA. He says the company shares CSA’s dedication to protecting students from the myriad of threats posed by the expanding use of technology.

“We are committed to setting a benchmark in the education sector,” Mr Fison says. “The threats facing internet and email enabled students are constantly evolving and so is our solution.

“Our Cyber Bullying Prevention Engine, which is an integrated feature of the SecurED solution, enables schools to filter inappropriate email within the school and between the school and outside. It is just one example of how our research and development team is responding to the demands of schools and providing leading- edge technology. I look forward to working with Christian Schools Australia to ensure that if a new threat emerges, we are ready to provide a solution to it.”

NetBox Blue helps schools around Australia protect their students, improve business productivity and improve network management with a sophisticated, yet easy to manage solution. Schools like Mueller College in Brisbane have seen dramatic changes in the everyday operation of their IT network since installing the NetBox Blue SecurED solution.

“On average we were spending a day a week dealing with email and web filtering issues,” Mueller College IT Manager, Anthony Kuhl says. “Now I’d be surprised if we were spending more than an hour because SecurED is in place. It works and we’re not worrying about it. It’s been fantastic. SecurED is making the life of staff a lot easier, which means they are able to get on and do their job of teaching students.  Staff members are happy, students are happy, so the IT department is happy.  Our experience has been great.”

The partnership between NetBox Blue and CSA will mean special pricing for member schools and regular contact with trained experts at CSA events. Schools will also have the reassurance they are using a solution that is widely adopted and used by CSA members.

“We hope schools use NetBox Blue’s technology to keep kids safe when they are using technology at school,” Mr O’Doherty says. “As an organization we look for long-term relationships with people we can trust and we look forward to an ongoing relationship between Christian Schools Australia and NetBox Blue.”     


About NetBox Blue
NetBox Blue is a leading provider of internet and email security, filtering and management solutions. NetBox Blue provides organizations with the tools to protect their network from internal and external threats, control data leakage and ensure staff use the internet productively. The company offers a broad portfolio of products and services including Unified Threat Management appliances, email filtering appliances, soft appliances (for virtual environments) and OEM-ready solutions. The company was established in 1999, is privately held and is based in Australia. NetBox Blue has a presence in 18 countries and has partnerships and distribution agreements with some of the world’s largest IT providers.

More information is available at netboxblue.com 1300 737060
Media contact: julie [dot] maplestonnetboxblue [dot] com
Chairman: john [dot] fisonnetboxblue [dot] com