The Educator Magazine UK May- August 2023 - Magazine - Page 38
Don’t forget to lock
the back door:
Why schools must put cybersecurity
at the top of the agenda
Robert Elworthy, Senior Solutions Engineer, Education at Malwarebytes
A cybersecurity incident at a school
can be costly to say the least, and has
the potential to derail operations on
a grand scale. Imagine your school’s
budget allocation for the year has
been worked out meticulously,
so all teachers feel supported,
departments have the resources
they need, and students can learn
effectively. Suddenly, your systems
are then breached, and a ransomware
gang is demanding huge sums of
money.
If you could time travel to protect the
school beforehand, would you take
that opportunity?
Unfortunately, many stakeholders in
education find themselves in exactly
this situation – the catch is, they don’t
have a time machine. Despite 16%
of all ransomware attacks in the UK
being directed to schools, only 53% of
the institutions feel prepared for a
cyberattack. Many follow the guidelines set out by the Government, and
while this is a positive step, it doesn’t
mean back doors are safely locked.
As an ex-teacher myself, it’s
understandable that allocating more
budget to cybersecurity and asking
teachers to take more responsibility
can feel daunting, but creating a
common culture of cybersecurity
awareness and training can make
access for cybercriminals far more
difficult and ultimately keep schools
protected.