What is a Cyber Attack?

A Cyber Attack is any attempt to expose, alter, destroy, steal or gain unauthorised access to make unauthorised use of an asset. The incidents can be financially driven, taking advantage of system weaknesses such as poor authentication systems.

Any school can fall victim to a cyber incident regardless of its size. The networks are used by many different users and devices.

Cyber Security should be high on the agenda for any school with a reliance on IT and online systems.

Cyber Security’s core function is to protect the devices we all use (whether this is Smartphones, laptops, tablets, or computers) and the services we access – both at work or home, from theft or damage.

Protecting yourself and your school from cyber security risks can seem like an enormous job that you just do not have time to do, however the NCSC has produced FREE Cyber Security training to raise awareness and help school staff manage some of the key cyber threats facing schools.

To download the Cyber Security Training click here

With the current situation in Ukraine, the NCSC advises organisations to act on improving their resilience with the cyber threat heightened. Schools are just as much at risk as everyone. Further guidance can be found here

If you do fall victim to a cyber incident then please report it with Action Fraud. If the incident involved a data breach, then the advice would be to report it to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) under GDPR Regulations.