Detailed Version:
Cloud Monitor is an IT administrator tool for Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. It provides IT administrators visibility into the district or school Google Workspace and/or Microsoft 365 environment. As an end user you will not be using the platform, but you may sometimes receive a warning message via email or the platform may take action on your files or emails.
Cloud Monitor is looking for potential IT security threats in Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. This could be someone attempting to login into your account who is not you. This could be a way you shared a file that contained sensitive student information. It could be storage of personal sensitive information such as passwords or social security numbers in files. It could be you emailed a social security number to someone outside of your organization. All of these examples would be something that Cloud Monitor would consider a policy violation. The goal is to find these kinds of issues and alert IT administrators or sometimes yourself so actions can be taken to help resolve the issue.
One of the ways that IT administrators may choose to help resolve the issue is configuring Cloud Monitor to send you email warning messages when you take an action in Google or Microsoft that poses a security risk. So if you share a file containing sensitive student information with anyone with the link share permission type this would be a policy violation. Your IT administrator might have Cloud Monitor email you to let you know you need to adjust the share permission to prevent anyone from gaining access to this file. In some situations the IT administrator may opt to have Cloud Monitor take care of the problem for you automatically. In this case Cloud Monitor will remove anyone with the link share permission. Another example might be someone else has accessed your account. You might receive an email warning message to confirm you were out of the country or using a VPN. Your IT administrator might instead choose to have your account be suspended or your password reset. This would be to prevent the bad actor from gaining long term access to your files and emails. Many bad actors might want to use your account to send phishing or spam messages to your contacts. They may also be looking to steal sensitive information. The goal of the email warning messages and automatic action is to alert you about a potential IT security issue and help fix the problem or take care of the issue automatically.
Abridged Version:
Cloud Monitor is a security tool used by our IT department to help protect our Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 environments. While you will not use this platform directly, you may occasionally receive email notifications from Cloud Monitor, or it may automatically take action on files, emails, or accounts to help keep our organization secure.
Cloud Monitor continuously monitors for potential security risks. Examples of these risks include:
Suspicious login activity, such as someone attempting to access your account without permission
Sharing files that contain sensitive student or organizational information
Storing confidential data (for example, passwords or Social Security numbers) in documents
Sending sensitive information outside of the organization
When activity like this is detected, it is considered a potential policy violation. The goal is to identify these risks quickly and either notify you or alert IT so the issue can be resolved.
In many cases, you may receive an email warning if an action you took could pose a security risk. For example, if a file containing sensitive information is shared using an “Anyone with the link” permission, you might be asked to update the sharing settings to better protect the file.
In some situations, IT may configure Cloud Monitor to automatically correct the issue. This could include removing public sharing permissions, resetting your password, or temporarily suspending an account if unauthorized access is suspected. These actions are taken to prevent bad actors from accessing sensitive data, sending phishing or spam messages, or causing further harm.
These notifications and automated protections are designed to keep both your account and our organization safe. If you ever receive a Cloud Monitor alert and are unsure why, please contact the IT department for assistance.
Tiny Version:
Cloud Monitor is a security tool used by our IT department to help protect our Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 systems. You will not need to use this tool directly, but you may occasionally receive email alerts from it.
These alerts are sent when a potential security risk is detected, such as:
Suspicious login activity
Sharing files that contain sensitive information
Sending confidential data outside the organization
Storing personal information (like passwords or Social Security numbers) in files
If you receive a warning, it usually means a quick action is needed — for example, updating a file’s sharing permissions. In some cases, IT may automatically fix the issue by removing risky access, resetting a password, or temporarily securing an account to prevent unauthorized use.
These alerts and actions are designed to protect you, our students, and our organization from security threats. If you ever receive a notification and are unsure why, please contact the IT department for assistance.