As education institutions build increasingly connected campuses, security leaders must balance openness with resilience. Ian Cartledge, Citizen Identity Senior Executive at Entrust; Liam Bridgeman, Account Executive for Education and Healthcare at Genetec; Kumar Sokka, CEO of Acre Security; and Sean Grimm, US Country Manager at Ipsotek, an Eviden business, explain why unified visibility, strong identity management and AI-powered physical security are becoming essential to protecting students, staff and critical campus infrastructure.

The modern campus is almost unrecognisable from the traditional education environment of even a decade ago. Alongside core IT infrastructure sit learning management systems, smart classrooms, connected access control, CCTV, digital signage, campus-wide Wi-Fi and an ever-growing number of IoT devices.

Each new technology enhances the student experience and improves operational efficiency. However, every new connection also creates another potential route for attackers. As a result, cybersecurity is increasingly extending beyond the data centre to encompass every aspect of campus operations, from building access and identity management to physical security and real-time situational awareness.

Visibility is the foundation of security

One of the strongest themes emerging from security specialists is the importance of visibility. As physical and digital systems become more closely integrated, institutions need a single, comprehensive view of what is happening across their environments.

Liam Bridgeman, Account Executive for Education and Healthcare at Genetec, believes many campuses still struggle because critical security systems operate independently.

“Campuses are more connected than they’ve ever been, and that means education leaders need real visibility across their physical security environment: not just to spot risks, but to actually respond to them in time.”

Video surveillance, access control and other connected technologies often function as separate systems, making it difficult to identify incidents that span multiple environments.

“Bringing them together on one intelligent platform gives universities a clear picture of what’s happening across campuses, rather than piecing it together after the fact.”

Kumar Sokka, CEO of Acre Security, agrees that fragmented security creates unnecessary risk.

“Every new connected service on campus adds convenience and attack surface at the same time.”

Rather than individual technologies representing the greatest weakness, he believes the real challenge lies in the gaps between them.

“The real vulnerability is not any single system but the gaps between them: access control, CCTV, Wi-Fi and IoT devices each run separately, and an incident that crosses all of them gets seen by none.”

For Sokka, the priority is clear.

“Bring physical and digital security into one view so a single anomaly is caught early, wherever it starts.”

Importantly, he argues this can usually be achieved without replacing existing infrastructure.

“And do it by connecting the systems you already have, not ripping them out, so security improves without disrupting the campus.”

Identity is becoming the new perimeter

While visibility is essential, contributors also argue that identity has become the primary control point for today’s connected campuses.

As institutions welcome thousands of new students each academic year alongside staff, contractors and visiting researchers, securely managing identities has become fundamental to maintaining both security and accessibility.

Ian Cartledge, Citizen Identity Senior Executive at Entrust, believes every interaction with campus services should begin with trusted identity.

“Securing the connected campus means protecting every credential touchpoint where truth matters, from a student’s first login and daily building access to high-stakes activities such as assessments and examinations.”

That requires much more than usernames and passwords.

“This starts with strong identity verification, encrypted access control, and cryptographic protection of credential data, which gives institutions the confidence to expand digital and physical services without compromising security or user convenience.”

However, identity threats continue to evolve.

Cartledge warns that Artificial Intelligence is making identity fraud increasingly sophisticated, particularly as more educational services move online.

“Preparing for an evolving threat landscape means recognising that identity is now a primary target for malicious activity.”

He pointed to deepfakes and digital identity fraud as growing concerns, particularly within remote examination environments.

“A layered approach that combines identity verification, biometric authentication, and AI-powered fraud detection can help educational institutions stay ahead of emerging threats while protecting students, staff, and the integrity of learning and testing.”

Using Artificial Intelligence without compromising trust

Artificial Intelligence is also changing how campuses approach physical security.

Rather than replacing existing infrastructure, many institutions are enhancing the value of technology they already own.

Sean Grimm, US Country Manager at Ipsotek, an Eviden business, believes existing camera networks provide an ideal foundation for AI-driven security.

“For most educational campuses, the starting point is leveraging their existing camera infrastructure.”

Because cameras are already widely deployed, AI-powered video analytics can deliver significant new capabilities without requiring wholesale replacement of security systems.

Grimm highlighted applications including threat detection, smoke and fire detection, perimeter intrusion monitoring, aggressive behaviour detection and broader situational awareness.

Crucially, he argues these capabilities do not need to compromise student privacy.

“The right video analytics technology can support compliance with data protection requirements through privacy-preserving design and governance controls, helping institutions enhance safety while safeguarding student privacy and trust.”

Balancing security with openness

Across all of the contributors, one consistent message emerges: securing the connected campus is not about introducing more barriers.

Education has always depended on openness, collaboration and accessibility. Security therefore needs to enable teaching, learning and research rather than restricting them.

Whether through unified security platforms, stronger identity management or intelligent video analytics, the objective remains the same: giving education leaders greater visibility and faster decision-making while protecting students, staff and institutional assets.

As campuses continue to adopt Artificial Intelligence, cloud services and connected technologies, cybersecurity will increasingly depend on bringing together physical and digital security into a single, integrated strategy. Institutions that achieve that balance will be best placed to create campuses that are not only smarter and more connected, but also more resilient, trusted and secure.

Originally published in Intelligent edu.tech