Academic Freedom and Application Chaos:
A Delicate Balancing Act (2nd Edition, March 2011)
Today, the successful completion of a university education is heavily dependent upon knowledge of how to use a PC and in many cases, requires outright ownership. In analyzing 326 university networks between June 2009 and March 2011, Palo Alto Networks found 1,022 unique applications that span the social, entertainment and educational spectrum. Some of the key findings are summarized below:
- Circumvention Tools: Steady Or Increasing In Use
The high frequency with which encrypted tunnel, remote access and external proxy applications were found introduces contradictions to the assumption that university networks are "open". - P2P File Sharing: Solution Of Choice For Moving Large Files
Found in 94% of the universities, P2P filesharing consumed a staggering 22% of the overall bandwidth observed, indicating that P2P remains the solution of choice for moving large files. - Browser-based Filesharing: The Next P2P?
Browser-based filesharing continues to grow in popularity and number of variants, introducing the question as to whether or not this group of applications will supplant P2P as the solution of choice for moving large files. - Bandwidth Consumption: Entertainment Or Education?
Approximately half (48%) of the 1,022 applications found are consuming 86% of the total bandwidth observed. Most of these applications span the education and entertainment usage patterns, a datapoint that is highlighted when compared to usage patterns in non-university environments.
The technical acumen that students have, combined with the breadth of applications, and the premise that university networks are "open" places extraordinary pressures on university security teams who are asked to enable openness, while protecting the network and the corresponding data.
