Cyber security
Cyber security introduction
Cyber security should be high on the agenda for any school with a reliance on IT and online systems. Falling victim to cyber attacks can result in disruption to teaching and learning, financial loss, data breaches and can affect staff wellbeing.
Cyber security and cyber resilience both have an equal part to play in reducing the cyber risk to organisations:
- Cyber security focuses on preventing hackers penetrating your IT systems
- Cyber resilience is the ability of an organisation to protect itself from, detect, respond to and recover from a cyber attack
Taking a methodical and proactive approach to cyber security and putting in place basic safeguards can greatly reduce the risk to your educational setting.
General cyber security resources
On this page
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) resources
Toolkits for Boards
Cyber Security Toolkits for Boards are resources designed to help school board members govern cyber risk more effectively.
Passwords
Your laptops, computers, tablets and smartphones will contain a lot of your own education-critical data, the personal information of your students, and details of the online accounts that you access. It is essential that this data is available to you, but not available to unauthorised users.
Passwords, when implemented correctly, are a free, easy and effective way to prevent unauthorised users accessing your devices. This link to "Using passwords to protect your data" outlines 5 things to keep in mind when using passwords.
See also this infographic from the NCSC about Using passwords to protect your devices and data.
Avoiding phishing attacks
Phishing is a type of cyber-attack designed to trick you into 'doing the wrong thing', such as disclosing sensitive information like your username and password or clicking on a link that may download malicious content to your computer.
Email is currently the most common delivery method for phishing attacks. Phishing emails are becoming more and more sophisticated and often look genuine at first glance, but some can still be identified by poor spelling and grammar.
Learn more about "Avoiding phishing attacks".
Staff training
The NCSC has produced free cyber security training to raise awareness and help school staff manage some of the key cyber threats facing schools.
Other resources
Sending and receiving secure emails
Norfolk County Council has produced some guidance on sending and receiving secure emails (PDF, 184 KB) between your school and the County Council.
Governor training
Click on the link to see more information about a Norfolk County Council Cyber Security for Governors course for governors.
Teaching and learning resources
On this page
Below are some useful resources from various sources.
National Crime Agency
Cyber Land
Test your cyber skills and learn new ones using Cyber Land (Note: This is available only on desktop.)
Cyber Choices
The Cyber Choices programme was created to help people make informed choices and to use their cyber skills in a legal way.
This is a national programme co-ordinated by the National Crime Agency and delivered by Cyber Choices teams within Regional Organised Crime Units and Local Police Force Cyber Teams.
The aims of the programme are:
- Explaining the difference between legal and illegal cyber activity
- Encouraging individuals to make informed choices in their use of technology
- Increasing awareness of the Computer Misuse Act 1990
- Promoting positive, legal cyber opportunities
National Cyber Security Centre
CyberSprinters
CyberSprinters - NCSC.GOV.UK has exciting interactive online security resources for 7-11-year-olds.
CyberFirst Navigators
CyberFirst Navigators - NCSC.GOV.UK provides interactive online security resources for 11-14-year-olds about how to stay secure online.
Other resources
Cyber Explorers
Cyber Explorers is a fun, free and interactive cyber security learning platform for 11-14-year-olds.
Data Protection Education
Meet Harry the Hacker - raise awareness with Data Protection Education's freebies.
ERSOU - Cyber Security Awareness Session for UK School Governors
Virtual 2-hour session, various dates available.
By the end of the session delegates will:
- Understand what cyber security is and the threat it presents to you personally and the education sector
- Understand the schools' duties around cyber security
- Know what questions to ask to ensure schools are fulfilling their duties
- Know of police lead resources to support them and their school(s) improve their defence against common cyber threats
Cyber Security Challenge UK - Lesson Plans for Teachers
Lesson plans to deliver cyber security and networking topics at secondary and sixth form levels, for you to incorporate however you like!
For schools who purchase Minecraft for Education
Minecraft Education's cyber security curriculum helps learners of all ages become cyber heroes - protecting their data, using the Internet safely, and modelling digital citizenship.
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