Introducing cesignal
Strengthening the collective shield: cesignal
In an era where cyber threats are becoming as complex as they are frequent, the need for a unified defence has never been greater. cesignal is an early warning system specifically developed for Catholic education. It’s designed to provide visibility into cyber risks and exposures, highlighting them before they escalate into security incidents. The service is currently in its pilot phase, with an official launch by CEnet anticipated toward the end of April.
Born from the direct requests of network members for a proactive technical solution they could consume rather than build from scratch, this service is designed to provide equity in protection and threat insight across the sector. cesignal reduces duplicated efforts by consolidating cyber threat alerts from multiple sources to provide distilled, actionable intelligence for Catholic education.
Turning noise into narrative
By leveraging CEnet’s position as the custodian of the sector’s internet protocol (IP) space, cesignal centralises monitoring of leaked credentials, external vulnerabilities, and malicious activity in an effort to significantly reduce the ‘death by notifications’ workload for local teams.
With millions of digital signals flashing across dashboards every day, distinguishing a false alarm from a critical threat can be overwhelming. cesignal is designed to reduce this workload significantly. By performing the heavy lifting of identification, filtering and enrichment centrally, CEnet curates the data to determine if action is required. Leveraging CEnet’s unique understanding of the sector to contextualise intelligence, filter out the noise to minimise false positives and ensure that connected Catholic communities receive only actionable, relevant risks.
Shared purpose, shared protection
Advanced threat intelligence and exposure management tools are prohibitively expensive; standalone subscription products can cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars each. By operating as a collective, CEnet can procure and manage these tools centrally, spreading the cost across participants to make enterprise-grade security accessible to all.
This approach not only drives down costs but ensures equity across the sector. Previously, the landscape was fragmented - some dioceses had robust security operations, while others had ad-hoc approaches. cesignal levels the playing field, ensuring that every school, regardless of size or location can benefit from the service.
Ensuring equity across the sector
Demonstrating that sector-wide security benefits everyone, CEnet will offer free critical vulnerability notifications to all Australian K-12 Catholic education entities. This baseline service ensures equitable access to alert digests, leaving no part of the network in the dark and reinforcing a commitment to the safety of the students and staff we serve.
Empowering local control
For those looking for a more comprehensive solution, the paid tier of cesignal unlocks a self-service portal. This moves beyond simple email digests to provide:
A full view of vulnerabilities via a dedicated website.
Richer intelligence feeds regarding dark web activity and threat landscapes.
API integration that allows local teams to feed intelligence directly into their own tools for proactive investigation.
Self-management capabilities to control who receives intelligence within an organisation.
Forging a safer future together
The system is currently in the pilot phase, with security and IT practitioners across the Catholic education network actively using the service and providing feedback. Their insights are being incorporated to refine the service before the full launch at the end of April.
By facilitating this collaboration, cesignal is not just reducing the workload for local teams; it is building a stronger, safer digital environment for Catholic education.
Get in touch
To learn more about cesignal, or how this collective defence can benefit your diocese, please contact the CEnet team via email: cesignal@cenet.catholic.edu.au
