Australian schools are increasingly integrating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) into classrooms.
Teachers are leveraging AI for lesson planning, task automation and using generative tools to create engaging learning experiences. Students are using AI to brainstorm, research, help with revision and sometimes, yes, shortcut their assignments. All of this happens across a wide range of devices, networks, and environments that school IT teams are expected to secure with limited time, budget and staff.
What’s emerged is not just an opportunity but a growing risk. While the potential of AI in education is enormous, so too is the danger of uncontrolled, unmonitored use of an exploding number of new AI tools and applications. Shadow AI is becoming the new shadow IT. Schools need a way to foster innovation without losing visibility or control.
This is precisely the challenge Palo Alto Networks is assisting schools to tackle, using the browser itself as a new control point for cyber security.
Most educational applications in Australian schools are now Software as a Service-based (SaaS), delivered through web browsers on devices . This shift has transformed how schools manage secure access to digital resources, moving beyond traditional network boundaries. The integration of AI tools, such as ChatGPT, image generators, and specialised educational AI platforms, enhances learning through personalised tutoring, content creation, and coding support. AI also supports inclusivity, offering speech-to-text and translation for multilingual learners.
Together, these technologies create a dynamic, powerful, and complex hybrid learning environment that fosters innovation while requiring careful oversight to ensure data privacy and ethical use.
Ethical challenges like data privacy and AI over-reliance can be mitigated through frameworks like the Australian Framework for Generative AI in Schools, the Safer Technology for Schools (ST4S) Framework, and the use of approved AI tools from governing bodies and School jurisdictions. These frameworks and approved AI tools seek to drive responsible use of AI while fostering critical thinking and creativity.
While work continues to establish these controls, the challenge is the sheer number of new AI tools and applications that are bombarding teachers, students and leadership stakeholders in schools.
Put simply, traditional network perimeter security models are not keeping up.
Shadow AI is a real and growing concern in Australian educational settings, where students and teachers use unauthorised AI tools, such as ChatGPT or unapproved generative AI apps, without oversight from school IT or leadership. These tools, typically accessed via browsers on devices like Chromebooks or personal laptops, bypass official policies, leading to risks like data privacy breaches, with 38% of educators admitting to sharing sensitive student or school data with unvetted AI platforms, according to a 2025 EdTech survey.
Students are curious, clever, and highly motivated to find ways around restrictions. Palo Alto’s own team recalled their school days of hacking login screens, scraping credentials, and manipulating grades, so it’s no surprise that it continues today, only with an ever-increasing level of sophistication.
Today’s students have even more advanced tools at their disposal. If access to an AI platform is restricted, many will find ways around it with proxy servers, VPNs, and alternative browsers. They know how to make use of them all.
Palo Alto estimates that, overall, 74% of users will find a way to bypass restrictions; however, in schools, this figure is probably higher. The issue isn’t just about blocking access. It’s about understanding how AI tools are being used, by whom, for what reasons, and with what risks.
Some AI platforms may be suitable for creative exploration. Others pose risks related to privacy, data leakage, or academic integrity, and blanket restrictions are ineffective. Traditional security tools also struggle to enforce nuanced policies across unmanaged devices.
Schools are addressing Shadow AI through tools like Prisma Access Browser from Palo Alto, which monitors and restricts access to unapproved AI platforms. Instead of chasing down every device or decrypting each traffic stream, Palo Alto has moved security enforcement into the browser layer itself.
The browser acts as a secure container based on Chromium, familiar to users, and deployable on any device, whether managed or unmanaged. Whether a student is using a school-issued laptop or their personal phone, it enforces the same security policies locally.
It doesn’t backhaul traffic through the school’s firewall or require complex network setups. Students get the performance they expect, and IT teams and leadership gain the visibility and control they need.
With Prisma Access Browser, schools can adopt a balanced approach to AI.
One school set policies allowing students to freely use image-generation AI tools, recognising their creative value. For text-based generative AI tools, they took a more cautious approach where students could browse and prompt these tools, but were prevented from pasting large blocks of content.
Teachers gained visibility into how AI tools were being utilised, with logs highlighting which tools were accessed. This included actions performed and any recorded Control-C/Control-V activity across platforms. This audit feature helped staff make informed decisions about student intent and academic integrity.
The same browser also enabled precise data protection. Sensitive fields like Medicare numbers, addresses, and dates of birth could be masked based on user roles. A third-party contractor or casual teacher might access a platform but have personally identifiable information redacted, without needing to modify the application itself.
The reality of modern schooling is that students are learning from everywhere; at home, at school, and through public networks. They use BYOD devices that the school cannot control, and on networks where traffic is increasingly encrypted, making them beyond the reach of traditional firewalls.
Prisma Access Browser is designed with this reality in mind from the outset, built to operate securely in unmanaged environments. Even if the device is compromised or the traffic is encrypted, the browser enforces the school’s policies before the content is displayed. Keyloggers and screen scrapers can’t access what’s inside the browser, and data can’t be copied or uploaded without permission. AI content can be used, but not abused.
For IT teams, the result is simplicity with no need for endpoint agents or VPN configuration. It’s a straightforward browser-based service that delivers the same protection level as a next-generation firewall, supported by the same threat intelligence engine used by governments and banks.
IT staff in education face broad responsibilities, often with fewer resources than in corporate settings. Palo Alto’s approach with Prisma Access Browser aims to make security easy to deploy, simple to manage, and robust enough to address genuine risks.
In a two-hour session, most schools can establish policies to manage shadow AI, safeguard sensitive data, and support BYOD. It’s a platform that provides security without hindering learning.
Data#3 is proud to be one of Palo Alto Networks’ top-tier partners in Australia, holding Diamond Partner status, with certified engineers, architects, and security specialists supporting education customers across the country.
For schools trying to navigate AI and hybrid learning, while protecting student data, this partnership offers more than just a product. It provides schools with a local, experienced team that understands the complexities of school environments. Whether it’s piloting AI controls, streamlining BYOD security, or integrating new solutions into existing infrastructure, Data#3 supports education leaders in maximising their Palo Alto investment, securely, efficiently, and confidently.
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