Smoothwall Cloud - Deployed to Devices / Apps & Extensions - Personal Dev's Q

[mikes]

Hi guys got a question for the Smoothwall Cloud team if possible.

Our LEA are rolling out Smoothwall Cloud and it seems to be working well, our report logs don't show the device ID though there's no column for it - not sure if this is by design.

We have always had problems with identifying devices due to enrolling them with @hwbcymru.net but actually logging on with our @schooldomain.org.uk

 

Anyway my worry is - the off site filtering and monitoring is working well - I can now see students and what they are doing while off site.

 

But my worry is - does this extension install itself on someone's personal device? E.G. ideally we want it to work only on enrolled devices not personal devices.

 

I already tested it by logging into a Windows machine with my test 22mikes user account and it didn't show up there which is good.

But if someone signs in to their own personal chromebook or android device, will it install the client then and potentially monitor their own personal device/

 

What I didn't want was it monitoring a students personal chromebook or if it did, a way to identify devices (we already give each of our devices a unique identifier in the G-SUITE based on the serial number and OU etc)

 

Thanks guys. When I logged on to my Windows chrome browser on my school account I did see the Impero icon (it doesn't work off site though due to our config) - but I think I deployed that via USERS whereas smoothwall it was via the devices tab.

 

Cheers guys.

[tom_newton]

It won't install on an unmanaged device. The hwb guys have a flag set that prevents it

[mikes]

Hi do you know what that flag might be? We also have a few that we have on our own managed domain as well before we started getting HWB devices via our local LEA. Just want to make sure it isn't running on non School devices. I followed the instructions on https://kb.smoothwall.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008478500-Installing-the-Smoothwall-Cloud-Filter-on-Chromebooks-using-Google-Admin to do the setup

[PotNoodleTech]

Interesting - keeping an eye on this as this is hopefully coming my way soon.

 

Just to clarify mikes - your using your own google tennancy but the chromebooks are enrolled in HWB, or are the chromebooks enrolled in your own google tennancy too?

 

Cheers

[mikes]

Yes - we are using our own Google tenancy but our Chromebooks are enrolled by HWB. We also have a very few Chromebooks that are enrolled on our own Tenancy but these are rare pre-covid. (I entered the Smoothwall setup info into our own g-suite and these seem to show up in the logs fine too)

Overall the system works fine but because we have our own tenancy where users are managed I was just worried I'd push it out where a kid would log in via Chrome on Windows, or on their mobile phones, and it would show up. The only Cloud Filter tutorial I have implemented is the Chromebook one, not the Windows one, IOS or Android one, just Chromebook. It's brand new so still messing with it but it seems to be working real well so far.

 

TBH I can't see any evidence so far of it being on personal devices - all the usage so far seems to be school work or kids using it for youtube who may not have their own devices. As I leave leaver users active for a year I can already see a few leavers who haven't given theirs back!

 

 

Long version and why we have this - We kind of have a weird system - we started playing with Chromebooks before HWB widely deployed their own system, so we had our own tenancy @ourschool.org.uk so kids got used to logging in using that. It was all managed by us and this is where we manage our usernames.

Then Covid happened and HWB started handing out chromebooks enrolled onto our system, but as our staff/kids had all their work stored on our @ourschool.org.uk, HWB altered our OU so we could log in using our @ourschool.org.uk logins. They can still log in via hwb on the main page but it's very rare so when kids log into a chromebook, they don't log in on the hwb page instead there's a "Wrong sign-in option? Enter Google Account Info" button - they press that and log in via their @ourschool.org.uk which is pre filled in.

 

It's a confusing system and had we known Covid would have happened etc we would have just moved to Hwb and likely will do soon once we can figure out how to easily transfer everything on our own g-suite domain.

[PotNoodleTech]

Yes same, been using Google on our own since 2014 and there has never been a persuasive argument as to why we should move to HWB and cause a massive amount of hassle for our teachers (and learners).

 

once we can figure out how to easily transfer everything on our own g-suite domain.

 

And therein lies the problem. There is no automated transfer system - you will either have to do it manually file by file, and probably get into a right mess, or just start on HWB from scratch.

 

If HWB had created an easy migration route we would have moved years ago.

 

But as it is - I am not screwing over my department, and all my teachers and learners just to satisfy someone elses political agenda.

[mikes]

yeah it would cause us so much hassle for so little benefit, we are still planning what to do. Plus there are concerns about handing over power we need (to audit mailboxes etc) over to them, and their support can be a bit hit and miss IMO - I've had a lot of back and forth "contact your LEA - contact the HWB" issues...

 

As for the original Q I've done some testing and I'm pretty sure it's only monitoring authorised school devices. I have only done it on Chromebooks so far as we only loan those out, I am looking into the other filter options soon but atm I am happy it's only school devices.

 

Edit - E.G. I just had to put in 0365 rules to stop 2 students mailing eachother as a safeguarding issue. Logged into Hwb's admin section - no way at all to add that rule or to even audit mailboxes as far as I can see. How is this fit for purpose?

Edited January 14, 2025 by mikes

[PotNoodleTech]

How is this fit for purpose?

 

Simple answer is, it's not fit for purpose.