Spring Branch ISD’s Journey To Enhanced Email Security

INDUSTRY
Education

HEADQUARTERS
Houston, Texas

COMPANY SIZE
+4600 employees

OVERVIEW

Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD)
is a public school district in Houston, Texas,
serving around 33,400 students in grades PK-
12 across elementary, middle, and high schools,
including two charter schools and an academic
institute. SBISD’s vision, Spring Branch T-2-4,
focuses on literacy, numeracy, student support,
and Career and Technical Education, with a diverse
student body.

OUR SOLUTION

Harmony Workspace Security

In the last 12 months we caught 76,000 phishing attempts
and approximately 3200 malware instances.
Troy Neal, executive director for cyber security and technology operations,
Spring Branch ISD

CHALLENGE

Troy Neal, executive director for cyber security and technology operations, at Spring Branch Independent
School District, outside of Houston, had faced significant challenges with the district’s email security posture.
Despite utilizing cloud-hosted, on-premise solutions that were initially considered adequate, escalating
threats prompted a reassessment of their security strategy. The district’s transition to the cloud was
expedited by the COVID-19 pandemic, illuminating the pressing need for a solution tailored to its new cloud
environment.

Neal recalls when traditional, on-premise email solutions could not contend with the increasing
sophistication of cyber threats, especially spam and phishing attempts breaching the district’s defences. “The
current email scheme, right at the time, was built for an on-premise solution. And then we started seeing a
lot of spam getting through,” Neal stated. The necessity to adapt was accentuated when SBISD’s incumbent
– which didn’t pair well with their migration to the cloud – began to falter in identifying and neutralizing
threats. Neal needed a solution that was built for the cloud and had much higher efficacy.

SOLUTION

In search of a solution that could provide robust protection against modern threats like ransomware, account
takeovers, and the onslaught of phishing attacks, SBISD considered various competitors but ultimately
selected Harmony Email & Collaboration for its unsurpassed capabilities. Convinced by a proof of concept
that plainly demonstrated the solution’s efficacy, he mentioned, “Just the results and the amount of stuff it
caught just in the pilot, we moved as fast as we could. And with the API set-up, the conversion from proof of
concept was live to instant.”

OUTCOME

The numbers spoke volumes; in a Slack group conversation with cyber security peers in Houston, Neal
shared the juxtaposition between the vulnerabilities they faced and the security SBISD enjoyed with Harmony
Email & Collaboration. “In the last 12 months we caught 76,000 phishing attempts and approximately 3200
malware instances,” he said.

Neal highlighted Harmony Email & Collaboration’s strengths, stating, “The solution was extremely simple to
implement and integrated into our current service offerings. The user interface and the portal are so simple.
You don’t spend so much time on alert fatigue. It just catches the bad emails.“

The decision to choose Harmony Email & Collaboration was backed by results and smooth onboarding
process, indicating a seamless fit with SBISD’s directive to prioritize the safety of their digital environment.

Troy Neal’s experience underscores Check Point’s authoritative stance in cloud email security. SBISD’s
transition to Harmony Email & Collaboration culminated in an email security environment that provided
comprehensive protection against the most advanced threats while offering simplicity of management. Neal’s
testimony encapsulates the district’s satisfaction. “It’s cost-effective. It works. The data proves how effective
the solution is compared to the market.”

About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leading protector of digital trust, utilizing
AI-powered cyber security solutions to safeguard over 100,000 organizations globally. Through its Infinity
Platform and an open garden ecosystem, Check Point’s prevention-first approach delivers industry-leading
security efficacy while reducing risk. Employing a hybrid mesh network architecture with SASE at its core,
the Infinity Platform unifies the management of on-premises, cloud, and workspace environments to offer
flexibility, simplicity and scale for enterprises and service providers.