i-FILTER® began issuing tests to strengthen information security education for faculty and staff on May 30
～Promoting the understanding of educational information security policy guidelines by understanding internet-use test questions, through guidance from experts on the subject～

TOKYO, Japan (May 30, 2017) – Digital Arts Inc. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan, CEO: Toshio Dogu, hereinafter referred to as “Digital Arts”, Code 2326) a leading provider of information security software, is an internet security company promoting information leak prevention and internal control.

With its i-FILTER software, test questions were created based on Educational Information Security Policy Guidelines¹(hereinafter referred to as “Educational Information Security Guidelines”), and will be available starting May 30. According to the settings, it will show the test questions of the Educational Information Security Guidelines when the users access the internet. The test questions were supervised by Net One Systems Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Takayuki Yoshino, hereinafter referred to as “Net One Systems”), in order for them to meet the requirements of the Educational Information Security Guidelines.

The new educational guidelines, planned to be implemented from FY 2020, are intended to train users in information technology utilization abilities, as educational institutions will be required to actively use ICT in schools. Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology exposed that the percentage of schools that have implemented information security policies remain at 64.1%.² The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has compiled a set of “Educational Information Security Guidelines” that incorporates recommended information security polices for educational institutions and promotes the formulation of information security policies.

Due to the current situation in educational institutions, we at Digital Arts have strengthened the Test Board function³ of our internet security software i-FILTER to allow the test to be performed by faculty and staff of the educational institutions. The content creation was supervised by Mr. Kozu Hayashiyama of ICT Strategy Support Department of the Marketing Development Division of Net One Systems Co., Ltd., who was also involved in the preparation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's “Educational Information Security Guidelines” handbook⁴. Access to the educational information security-related questions devised by the experts will be displayed when the faculty or staff, for example, accesses the internet for the first time on a particular day. By repeatedly responding to the test questions with the Test Board function, it is possible to promote understanding of the information security policies that the faculty and staff must abide by, as stated in “2.5. Human security” of the Educational Information Security Guidelines.

Due to the rising number of incidents where students’ personal information has been leaked, there is a growing emphasis on the importance of implementing security measures based on the Educational Information Security Guidelines. In addition to being compliant with “2.6. Technical Security” and “2.7. Operation,” it is possible to implement malware infection and data leak countermeasures for both the internet and e-mail using a combination of i-FILTER and m-FILTER. Moreover, by performing file encryption via file encryption/tracking solution FinalCode, it is possible to ensure the safety and security of data.

Question display in i-FILTER

In order to meet the increasing demands regarding information leaks both from the outside as well as within the organizations, Digital Arts will continue to develop and provide wide-reaching solutions and aim to deliver on these more quickly. We will also continue to aim for improved product satisfaction to contribute to the peace of mind and safety of all internet users.

• *1 Guidelines on Educational Information Security Policy by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (October 18, 2017)
  http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/zyouhou/detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2017/10/18/1397369.pdf
• *2 Source: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology “Survey on WEB Questionnaire on the Formulation of Educational Information Security Policy and Implementation Status”
• *3 Test Board function is a function that enables users to display information security questions when accessing the internet and not allow them to access the internet unless they answer correctly.
• *4 Handbook of Educational Information Security Policy “Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology”(November 2017)
  http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/micro_detail/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2018/04/11/1397369_002_3.pdf