Adopting cybersecurity solutions and strategies for a safer internet

Two education leaders working together on a laptop in a school office.
Empower your school community with cybersecurity solutions, strategies, and resources for Safer Internet Day 2025.

On February 11, 2025, schools and institutions across the world will come together for Safer Internet Day to focus on how to use technology responsibly, respectfully, and creatively. This annual event encourages everyone, from students to IT leaders, to embrace responsible and secure technology practices. Microsoft cybersecurity solutions empower education institutions to safeguard internet activity and ensure secure learning experiences.

For Safer Internet Day, we invite school IT professionals to explore tools that create safer online experiences. Start by discovering tools and strategies to create a safer internet for your school community.

Teach students the fundamentals of safe online behavior

We recognize that everyone has a role to play in cybersecurity and online safety. To get started, begin discussing internet safety with students, educators, and families with help from these resources from Microsoft Education:

As students develop essential digital skills, they’ll become more aware of the threats that often target schools, social media apps, and the communication tools they use daily. Help them understand the cause and effect, so they can learn how to protect themselves and recognize the importance of staying vigilant.

A student using a laptop sits on a beanbag in a classroom with students working at a table in the background.

A suite of products that work together

Every student deserves a secure technology environment that maximizes learning, but cyberthreats continue to jeopardize cyber safety in schools and institutions. With more than 15,000 malicious messages targeting the education sector daily, this year’s Safer Internet Day theme of “together for a better internet” comes at a critical time for schools and institutions.

With Microsoft 365 Education A3 and A5 plans and security add-ons, you can deliver innovative protection through a single, cost-effective platform. Tools like Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 – Students and Microsoft Purview provide seamless, integrated solutions to protect students and educators.

Dedicated protection for student devices

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 – Students offers enhanced device protection that shields students’ devices from phishing, malware, and other attacks. With Defender for Endpoint, you can:

  • Identify and neutralize cyberthreats in real time using advanced detection technology.
  • Disrupt in-progress cyberattacks by automatically containing compromised assets early, minimizing impact and recovery time.
  • Protect student data with industry-leading encryption protocols.
  • Remotely track, lock, or wipe devices to safeguard sensitive information in case of a lost or stolen device.
  • Monitor and update devices to protect against the latest vulnerabilities.
  • Ensure safe browsing for students by blocking harmful or malicious websites with robust web content filters.
An IT professional sitting at a desk in a school office using Defender for Endpoint.

Web filtering is a core component of Defender for Endpoint. You can use it to block adult content, criminal activities, and social networking sites so that students are unable to access inappropriate content while they browse the web. Web content filtering also blocks harmful content before it reaches devices.

For example, a middle school student conducting research for a class project would be less likely to stumble on a website with malware because it would be blocked through Defender for Endpoint. The student would be able to continue their work without disruption—and educators and IT teams can continue devoting their time to engaging learning experiences, instead of managing a security incident.

Defender for Endpoint also sends alerts of suspicious activities and threats. If a bad actor tries to attack a student device on a compromised, public Wi-Fi network, your school IT team is alerted to suspicious activity and Defender for Endpoint automatically blocks the threat before any sensitive information is compromised.

Our commitment to safe online experiences includes providing you with the tools you need to protect student devices. With Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence analyzing more than 78 trillion daily signals, Defender for Endpoint safeguards learning environments from emerging online threats.

Addressing cyberbullying with Microsoft Purview

Preventing cyberbullying requires proactive strategies and effective tools. In schools around the world, educators teach students to be upstanders who “say something if they see something” and report bullying and harassment in their classrooms. Good digital citizenship practices like reporting, coupled with security solutions like Microsoft Purview, can go a long way to creating a safe space for all.

Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive set of solutions in Microsoft 365 Education A5 plans that helps your institution secure and govern your entire data estate. You can use Microsoft Purview as a part of a systematic approach to cyberbullying by leveraging some of its solutions in unique ways:

  • Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance: Monitor harmful messages and images in Microsoft Teams for Education with policies that flag disparaging or self-harm remarks. Machine learning detects intent behind messages, empowering administrators to act quickly.
  • Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention: Protect records by preventing students from deleting files or data that’s a part of a cyberbullying incident. Set up alerts when someone attempts to delete data so that you can have a complete record for investigation and compliance requirements.
  • Insider Risk Management: Detect instances when students or staff send hateful messages or make harmful threats across Microsoft and third-party platforms. Integrated tools enable IT, human resources, and legal departments to collaboratively investigate incidents.
  • Microsoft Purview eDiscovery: Create policies that maintain records of cyberbullying incidents so that your school can stay in compliance with laws like the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Use this solution to discover, preserve, and analyze sensitive content in email and instant messages on Microsoft systems and third-party platforms like learning management systems (LMS).

Both Defender for Endpoint P2 – Students and the Microsoft Purview compliance suite are a part of our ongoing commitment to creating secure learning experiences. For Safer Internet Day 2025, take the opportunity to bolster your school’s cybersecurity defenses and foster a secure technology environment for all.