News

This article is about cyber attacks and data breaches that may go unreported due to the misconceptions about how organisations might respond to them.  The NCSC recently published an article about why transparency around cyber attacks is a good thing for everyone.
The NCSC and the ICO may work on a cyber attack together if an incident brings down a business, severely impacts national services and infrastructure or massively disrupts people's data-to-day lives, however they consider that

A Dorchester school has recently suffered a cyber attack in the form of a Ransomware attack.
Following the attack the school has been left unable to use email or accept payments.
The school is working with the National Cyber Security Centre and the police to resolve the issue. The full article can be read here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-65685607
The school remains open, with teaching adapted as needed and exams continuing as planned.

Comment from the

This article is about the different user types available on the Knowledge Bank and what they have access to.
Details about how to add users onto the Knowledge Bank can be found in the Using the Knowledge Bank Best Practice Library: How to add users to the Knowledge Bank

Malicious threat actors (hackers) are always developing new techniques to breach passwords.  This article lists the different types of password attacks and some defences/counter-measures which can be used to enhance password security.  In our experience, hackers are most successful at accessing school systems unlawfully using these methods.  Passwords continue to be a primary target for cyber criminals seeking unauthorised access to accounts.

Password security is a

Hackers and cyber criminals are continuously searching for vulnerabilities in software and systems to exploit for their own malicious gains.  

What are Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerabilities refer to software flaws or weaknesses that are unknown to the software vendor and, consequently, unpatched at the time of discovery by cyber criminals.  These vulnerabilities are security holes that malicious threat actors (hackers) can exploit to gain unauthorised acces

The Cyber Security Breaches Survey is a research study for UK cyber resilience, aligning with the National Cyber Strategy.

The full report is here: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2023

There is a separate annex published for education institutions, the full report is here: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2023 Education Institutions Annex

In Summary, the percentage of organisations that have identified breaches or attacks in the last 12 months:

A Wiltshire secondary school has been severely affected by a targeted attack by hackers who demanded a ransom to restore access to its IT network.  The attack affected the school's local server, its website, internet access, Wi-Fi, printers and internal phone systems.

A full report can be read here: https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/23476464.hacker-demands-ransom-taking-control-wiltshire-schools/

The school's website was still down several days later.  An updat

The ICO recently published an updated article aimed at small business with tips for IT security - this advice would also be applicable for schools and colleges.  

This table shows the advice from the ICO and how areas of the Data Protection Education Knowledge Bank can help and guide you in those areas. 

ICO Recommendation DPE Knowledge Bank Links  Back up your data    Info/Cyber Security Checklist

 How secure is your se

This article explains what a DDoS attack is and how to manage if your organisation is attacked.

A DoS attack is a denial of service attack.  It occurs when users are denied access to computer services or resources, usually by overloading the service with requests.  Your server or your website will be repeatedly bombarded with requests for information or resources.  This overwhelms the system making it unusable and unavailable.

An attack becomes a 'distributed de

This article is linked to a series of articles about different types of Cyber Attacks. They can be viewed in the Information/Cyber Security News section of the Data Protection Education website or as part of the Information & Cyber Security Best Practice Area. Each article discusses a different type of cyber attack, steps to try to minimise the risk and guidance.

Phishing is a type of cyber attack in which an attacker tries to trick the victim into giving away sensitive

This article is linked to a series of articles about different types of Cyber Attacks. They can be viewed in the Information/Cyber Security News section of the Data Protection Education website or as part of the Information & Cyber Security Best Practice Area. Each article discusses a different type of cyber attack, steps to try to minimise the risk and guidance.

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) defines insider threat as the threat that an insider will

This article covers ways in which cyber criminals profit from their cyber crimes.  Often we might think our data, if it is not financial, is not interesting or profitable to hackers, so this article discusses the different types of data that are stolen and why.

Financial data is the main data type that we all think of when considering why a hacker might steal information.  Financial data can be sold to various individuals for different purposes. It is not uncommon for t

This article is about the use of WhatsApp as a communication tool in schools and recent vulnerabilities. It discusses school staff using WhatsApp as a communication method for school business.

We are sometimes asked by staff whether it is OK for staff to be in a WhatsApp group for important school messages. Staff often wish to use it because it is an easy way to communicate and a platform that a lot of people are familiar with.  It is also free. There are issues around this:

On July 18, 2022, the U.K. government introduced the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill to Parliament. Previously known as the Data Reform Bill, it is the result of a consultation from 2021 and its aim is to update and simplify the U.K.’s data protection framework. According to the U.K. government, the new legal framework created by the DPDI Bill will reduce burdens on organizations while maintaining high data protection standards.

This articles lists the latest updates and new documents to the Knowledge Bank.

Malware is malicious software designed to harm computer systems and is linked to data protection in several ways.

Malware can be used to steal or compromise sensitive data stored on a computer system or network. This data could include personal information, financial data, or confidential business information. In this sense, malware poses a significant threat to data protection, as it can lead to data breaches and other security incidents.

Malware can

The headteacher of a grammar school has left her role after sending parents a list of the teachers going on strike.

The Headteacher at King Edward VI Five Ways Grammar school in Birmingham  had been headmistress for just 18 months when an email she sent to parents is alleged to have named some teachers who would be striking during the planned walkouts last month.

This article is a reminder that Microsoft will stop support for both Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 after October 10th 2023.  Keeping software up to date on devices is best practice to help prevent cyber attacks and data breaches.

This article lists the ways that Data Protection Education can be contacted for general data protection queries, data breaches, subject access requests and freedom of information requests.

While all our customers have a dedicated consultant who can be contact directly, if there is an urgent issue we would always advise emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

When you email This email address is being protected from

The first child protection complain ever made against Big Tech under UK Law.

The following article talks about how a school thwarted a cyber attack, more through luck than judgement.  Our advice is for the whole organisation to be cyber aware and review how your organisation might respond when attacked.    The article gives ideas on how to begin making a cyber ready plan.

In October 2020 Kellett School was subject to a ransomware denial-of-service (DoS) attack orchestrated by a Russian criminal hacker group.  After the attack, a post m

This article is linked to a series of articles about different types of Cyber Attacks. They can be viewed in the Information/Cyber Security News section of the Data Protection Education website or as part of the Information & Cyber Security Best Practice Area. Each article discusses a different type of cyber attack, steps to try to minimise the risk and guidance

With the increase in Cyber crime against schools in the UK we are focusing in on what can be done to help prevent cyber crime in a way mangeable for school budgets.

 

Given the current financial pressure on schools it is very likely there are devices in schools running out of date software.  This article looks at the most recent version of Windows that support has ended for, what that means and why upgrades are a must. 

To assign courses to your staff, we should use the to-do functionality via the Course Assignment and Progress Report.

When we assign a to-do via this report, and the user completes the course, the to-do will be automatically marked as complete in the to-do list. 

The Record of Processing can often seem like a daunting process to undertake- but it’s important to view it as exactly that- a process. Documenting the processes your organisation carries out is an ongoing project that you continue to evolve and develop as those processes change. The value you can get out of spending some time and care by completing various ones shouldn’t be underestimated. We’ve spoken to some of the people who have used the RoP tool on the Knowledge Bank, and asked th

VPN’s have become commonplace over the past couple of years, with every content creator out there having at some point been sponsored by Nord VPN (other VPN providers are available). VPN's are mostly used so that we can watch content on streaming platforms that would otherwise be blocked in the UK. However, as well as allowing you to watch Pulp Fiction on Canadian Netflix, VPN’s have excellent security benefits that can help prevent data breaches and cyber attacks. 

Under UK GDPR, Public Authorities or Bodies, as well as businesses carrying out certain processes are required to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO). This article will explain why you need a DPO and what a DPO does for your organisation.

Recently there has been an annual study published by Ponemon Institute (sponsored by Experian) entitled “Is Your Company Ready for a Big Data Breach?”. The study looks at the state of breach preparedness across organisations over a period of a year,

Retention of Child Protection Information is for 25 years from the DOB of the Pupil 

The Education (Pupil Information)(England) Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/1437 states that pupil records should be retained for 25 years from the date of birth of the pupil.