Schools and organizations that deploy vast numbers of computers have a much-needed computing edge against cybersecurity risks with enterprise-grade Chromebooks. Consumer-grade Chromebooks come with what Google calls “defense in depth,” which provides multiple layers of protection. If attackers succeed in bypassing one layer, others remain in effect. The networked Chromebooks deployed in school systems, medical facilities, and government offices take multi-layer security and boost it with additional features. One of them is Zero Trust security, a framework that verifies every user and device…Continue reading….
By: Jack M. Germain
Source: TechNewsWorld
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Chromebook (sometimes stylized in lowercase as chromebook) is a line of laptops, desktops, tablets and all-in-one computers that run ChromeOS, a proprietary operating system developed by Google. Chromebooks are optimised for web access but also run Android apps, Linux applications, and Progressive web apps, they do not require an Internet connection. They are manufactured and offered by various OEMs.
The first Chromebooks shipped on June 15, 2011. As of 2020, Chromebook’s market share is 10.8%, placing it above the Mac platform; it has mainly found success in education markets. Since 2021 all Chromebooks receive 10 years of regular automatic updates with security patches from Google, previously it was 8 years. Chromebooks can be repurposed with other operating systems and/or used for other purposes if required.
In May 2018, Google announced it would make Linux desktop applications available on Chromebooks via a virtual machine code-named “Crostini”. ChromeOS, which runs on Chromebooks, is already based on the Linux kernel, but it does not provide default support for applications that expect a GNU-based system. Crostini left the beta stage in May 2021 as part of release 91. Google maintains a list of devices that were launched before 2019, which support Crostini.
The education market has been the Chromebooks’ most notable success, competing on the low cost of the hardware, software and upkeep. The simplicity of the machines, which could be a drawback in other markets, has proven an advantage to school districts by reducing training and maintenance costs. By January 2012, even while commercial sales were flat, Google placed nearly 27,000 Chromebooks in schools across 41 states in the US, including “one-on-one” programs, which allocate a computer for every student in South Carolina, Illinois, and Iowa.
As of August 2012, over 500 school districts in the United States and Europe were using the device. In 2016, Chromebooks represented 58 percent of the 2.6 million mobile devices purchased by U.S. schools and about 64 percent of that market outside the U.S. By contrast, sales of Apple devices to U.S. schools dropped that year to 19 percent, compared with 52 percent in 2012. Helping spur Chromebook sales is Google Classroom, an app designed for teachers in 2014, that serves as a hub for classroom activities including attendance, classroom discussions, homework and communication with students and parents.
There have, however, been concerns about privacy within the context of the education market for Chromebooks. Officials at schools issuing Chromebooks for students have affirmed that students have no right to privacy when using school-issued Chromebooks, even at home, and that all online and offline activity can be monitored by the school using third-party software pre-installed on the laptops.
Further, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has complained that Google itself is violating the privacy of students by enabling the synchronization function within Google Chrome (“Chrome Sync”) by default, allowing web browsing histories and other data of students – including those under-13 – to be stored on Google servers and potentially used for purposes other than authorized educational purposes.
A point of contention has been the fact that users of school-issued Chromebooks cannot change these settings themselves as a measure to protect their privacy; only the administrator who issued the laptops can change them. The EFF claims that this violates a Student Privacy Pledge already signed by Google in 2014. EFF staff attorney Nate Cardozo stated: “Minors shouldn’t be tracked or used as guinea pigs, with their data treated as a profit center.
If Google wants to use students’ data to ‘improve Google products’, then it needs to get express consent from parents.” Despite this, Chromebooks made up nearly 60% of computers used in US schools in March 2018. CNET writer Alfred Ng cited superior security as the main reason for this level of market adoption. According to research firms Gartner and Canalys, over 30 million Chromebooks were shipped in 2020, as school districts and parents purchased them for remote learning purposes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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