Higher Ed & Private Data
Higher education institutions manage vast amounts of sensitive data—from student records to research files—across cloud, on-prem, and endpoint systems. Spirion’s Sensitive Data Platform delivers accurate discovery, persistent classification, and automated protection to reduce risk, ensure compliance, and strengthen overall data security posture without disrupting academic operations.
“Before Spirion, we didn’t know where our most sensitive data lived. Now we not only know — we control it.”
-University Director of Information Security
Challenge
Higher education institutions manage one of the most complex data environments in any industry. From admissions and alumni relations to campus health services and research labs, universities are stewards of vast volumes of personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) — not only for students, but also for guardians, faculty, staff, and donors.
This data often spans cloud applications, on-premises systems, research databases, learning management platforms, and endpoint devices. A single student record may include names, Social Security numbers, transcripts, financial aid details, payment card data, and immunization records — all subject to strict compliance under FERPA, HIPAA, GLBA, COPPA, and other regional data privacy laws.
At the same time, these institutions must maintain open, accessible networks to enable learning, collaboration, and innovation. With competing priorities, data security is even more critical and uniquely challenging.
Solution
To meet their increasing data privacy challenges, higher education institutions turn to the Spirion Sensitive Data Platform (SDP) — a comprehensive Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) solution that delivers data-centric visibility, control, and protection across the institution’s entire digital footprint.
Key Capabilities that Empower Higher Education:
- Discover
Locate sensitive data across structured and unstructured formats — from student directories and cloud-hosted email to shared drives and research archives — using Spirion’s proprietary, highly accurate content-aware scanning.
- Classify
Automatically and persistently classify data according to institutional policy and regulatory frameworks, ensuring appropriate prioritization and action.
- Understand
Gain actionable insights with dashboards and risk analytics to see where the most sensitive data lives, how it’s being accessed, and where vulnerabilities exist.
- Control
Automate policy-based remediation — such as quarantine, redaction, encryption, or access restriction — to prevent misuse or compromise.
- Comply
Stay ahead of regulatory obligations by continuously monitoring for compliance with FERPA, HIPAA, GLBA, and emerging state and global privacy laws.
Results
Spirion helps higher education institutions with data confidence, regulatory compliance, and risk reduction:
- Build a privacy-first culture that respects and protects the data of students, guardians, and faculty alike
- Empower IT and security teams with real-time insight and automated response
- Streamline compliance with data privacy regulations and audit readiness
- Reduce risk exposure by eliminating data sprawl and overexposure of sensitive records
Real-World Scenario: Containing Risk in Student Services
The following story is an amalgamation of how Spirion higher education customers have utilized Sensitive Data Platform and the results:
A university’s student services department stored financial aid documentation — including scanned tax forms and Social Security numbers — on a shared network drive accessible by dozens of employees. Over time, files were duplicated, moved, and renamed. When the university prepared for a GLBA compliance audit, it could not confidently identify where sensitive records resided or who had access to them.
Spirion in Action
- Using Spirion’s discovery engine, the university scanned all network shares and located over 14,000 unprotected sensitive files — including many that were long thought to be archived or deleted.
- Spirion’s classification and analytics tools revealed that access permissions were overly broad, with 80% of users having access to sensitive files they didn’t need.
The institution used Spirion’s automated remediation playbooks to:
- Quarantine sensitive files
- Restrict access to only required personnel
- Apply encryption policies
- Flag at-risk data for review
The Results
- Over 90% reduction in exposure of PII within the student services environment.
- The institution passed its GLBA audit without findings.
- Data governance teams gained confidence in their ability to enforce consistent policy controls across departments.
- The time to respond to data access and exposure requests was cut in half, improving internal SLAs and regulatory responsiveness.
As the data landscape evolves and regulatory expectations rise, higher education institutions can no longer afford reactive or siloed data protection strategies. With Spirion, they gain the tools to proactively manage data risk, protect personal information, and operate with confidence.
