Cyber security in schools

Cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important issue for schools and trusts. More and more educational institutions are relying on technology to store sensitive data, communicate with students and faculty, and deliver online lessons. However, with the rise of technology comes an increased risk of cyber-attacks.

The threats

Recently, 14 individual schools have fallen victim to a series of cyber-attacks leading to sensitive information, such as student names, addresses and passport details (from recent school trips) falling into the hands of the attackers. In addition to the risks posed to individuals, a cyber-attack on a school or trust could heavily impact its ability to continue teaching.

With the current economic pressure, organisations are looking to cut back on budgets where possible and unfortunately this includes cybersecurity. Hackers are fully aware of this and will likely take advantage as we move further into 2023. It is therefore critically important to understand the areas which require further investment. This should prevent wide-scale slashes to cybersecurity budgets, and allow continued, small steps to be made.

How we can help

We have a wide range of cost-effective services to offer in the cybersecurity sector. Our primary aim is to focus organisations’ spending on areas which need it most. Our key services to the educational sector include but are not limited to:

• Vulnerability scanning
• Patch management
• Government-backed cybersecurity certifications
• User awareness training
• Web application scanning

By achieving Government-backed cybersecurity certifications such as Cyber Essentials Plus, you can help mitigate approximately 80% of common cyber threats within your network. This certification aims for you to have a good baseline level of security in place across your IT estate.

We regularly conduct IT security reviews for our clients, and our findings show that 95% have critical or high rated vulnerabilities within their networks; most are unaware of these prior to our assessments.  Our aim is to help organisations understand and gain that grasp on the potential security risks that their devices pose.

Whether you’re wanting help to gain an understanding of your cybersecurity posture, or you’re looking to implement technical measures to actively track and mitigate vulnerabilities, please feel free to reach out to our cyber security Director for a free initial conversation at: phil.osgathorpe@pkf-francisclark.co.uk.

References

BBC News. (2023, 01 06). Schools hit by cyber attack and documents leaked. Retrieved from BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-63637883