Lucy at Breathe Technology writes:
The DfE has been working closely with the NCSC (UK Government – National Cyber Security Centre) and over the past few months they have been communicating with schools regarding these attacks that have resulted in system damage, data breaches and specifically ransomware attacks.
As an Education Sector focused IT Service Provider and Security specialists, we would like to ensure that our customers and contacts are aware of the elevated risk. We take this very seriously and we work very closely with our customers to ensure that the required systems and processes are in place.
This email contains some really important documents, including a link where you can download the official, School Staff-Cyber Awareness Training, released by the NCSC (UK Government - National Cyber Security Centre). This is really valuable information too. One of the biggest risks we see when auditing, is not system related, but rather the risk of the employees being caught out by clever Cyber Crime attacks such as phishing.
We have compiled some important resources to help you:
Visit our website on the link below and navigate down to “Security resources for you”
https://breathetechnology.com/cyber-security/
Videos from the NCSC showing real life Cyber Crime taking place at schools
The DFE Warning Letter (Letter from Jon Gilbert at the DFE) – The facts regarding the severity of the situation
Security Risk Assessment created by our MD, based on the NCSC and ISO27001 guidelines.
Your team should use this to check your system
Official NCSC, school staff Cyber awareness training
Option to book A Cyber Security Audit if you would like an expert view.
During the audit, we will provide an non biased risk assessment by highly qualified personnel. This ensures that you are doing everything to protect yourself. Our team is friendly, very experienced, discreet and helpful. As part of the audit, we will provide suggestions and recommendations on how to resolve any risks or issues. You can then action these yourself or we can help if you need it.
During our IT and Security Audits and in our Pen Testing Efforts, we almost always identify staff awareness and training as a risk. We hope that these resources will provide some assistance in protecting yourself, your staff and your school or MAT.
If you require any further assistance or have questions, please reach out. You can contact us on 01223 209920 and ask for Louise Harper or email lucy@breathetechnology.com.