South Western City Schools Strengthens Cyber Resilience with Invary
Organization: South Western City Schools (Ohio, USA)
Industry: K-12 Education
Challenge: Ensuring endpoint defenses remain effective amid evolving cyber threats
Solution: Invary’s runtime integrity validation for Windows and Linux systems5
South Western City Schools, one of Ohio’s largest public school systems, supports tens of thousands of students, teachers, and staff across dozens of schools and administrative sites. Like many K–12 districts, its technology team is responsible for securing a large, complex IT environment that powers learning, administration, and daily operations.
South Western City Schools takes a proactive approach to cybersecurity, regularly assessing new strategies and technologies to strengthen its defenses. As cyber threats continue to evolve, the district recognized that validating the integrity of its systems beyond traditional endpoint protection is essential to ensuring its security tools remain effective and its critical operations stay protected.
Education infrastructure has proven to be a high-value target for threat actors. In December 2024 a ransomware attack on PowerSchool's Student Information System exfiltrated data on 62 million students and teachers across thousands of districts.
The Challenge: Endpoint Tools Alone Aren't Enough
Traditional endpoint detection and response (EDR) platforms remain a cornerstone of South Western City Schools’ security stack. But the technology team recognized a troubling trend: attackers increasingly use advanced techniques to disable, bypass, or evade EDR solutions before launching broader attacks.
"With EDR bypass tools becoming increasingly more common in ransomware operations, we were looking for a tool that could validate the integrity of our Windows and Linux systems to ensure the EDR is working as it should,” explained Rob Moore, Director of Technology and Information Services.
The district needed an independent way to verify that its endpoints and operating systems remained trustworthy, even if other defenses were compromised.
The Solution: Runtime Integrity Validation with Invary
South Western City Schools turned to Invary’s runtime integrity validation platform to fill this critical security gap. Invary continuously monitors the integrity of Windows and Linux operating systems, detecting tampering and unauthorized changes that traditional tools often miss. Because Invary operates independently of the EDR, it provides a trusted second opinion on system integrity.
"Invary checks for anomalies in Windows and Linux and notifies you if it finds that something with the OS has been tampered with,” said Moore.
By validating that systems remain in a known and trusted state, Invary helps ensure the security tools the district relies on are functioning as intended.
Simple Deployment, Immediate Results
Implementation was straightforward. The platform’s lightweight deployment and intuitive monitoring tools allowed the team to integrate runtime integrity validation into their existing workflows without disruption.
"Super easy to set up and monitor,” Moore shared about the deployment experience.
Within days, South Western City Schools gained deeper visibility and assurance across its environment, helping the team detect potential compromises earlier and respond with greater confidence.
Results: Stronger Security and Peace of Mind
With Invary in place, South Western City Schools now continuously validates the integrity of its systems, ensuring that endpoint protections are active and uncompromised. This additional layer of assurance strengthens the district’s security posture, reduces risk from advanced attacks, and helps protect critical operations that support students and staff every day.
About Invary - Available on the CIS Marketplace
Invary provides continuous runtime integrity validation for Windows and Linux systems, detecting unauthorized changes that traditional security tools miss. By ensuring systems remain in a known and trusted state, Invary complements existing defenses, strengthens security posture, and helps organizations protect what matters most.
