Best Practice Update

Girl smilitng, children working, some children working on a laptop. Text says Meeting Digital Standards in Schools and Colleges

Free cyber training for staff

Did you know that annual cyber security training for school staff is a requirement in the DfE Digital Standards for Schools and Colleges Cyber Security Standards Document?

Standard 4: You should protect accounts with access to personal or sensitive operational data and functions by multi-factor authentication:

Part of meeting this standard is to provide training to users unfamiliar with multi-factor authentication.

Standard 12: Train all staff with access to school IT networks in the basics of Cyber Security

The importance of meeting the standard
The most common forms of cyber attack rely on mistakes by staff members to be successful. Avoiding these mistakes prevents the attacks.
Basic cyber security knowledge amongst staff and governors is vital in promoting a more risk aware school culture.

How to meet the standard
Staff with access to your IT network must take basic cyber security training every year.
At least one member of the governing body should complete the training.
Remember that the training may change over time with changing cyber threats.

Technical requirements to meet the standard
Staff who require access to your IT network must take basic cyber security training every year. The training should be part of the induction training for new staff

This training should focus on:
  • phishing
  • password security
  • social engineering
  • the dangers of removable storage media
At least one current governor must complete the same basic cyber security training. These governors should read the NCSC publication school cyber security questions for governors
Many staff members have already completed the NCSC Cyber Security Training for School Staff training video.  Other cyber training could be:

Password Security

Awareness through posters:  folder Drip Feeds - posters

New Cyber Security Training

This week the ICO have published some  videos about cyber security that are just a few minutes long:






What to do in the event of a Cyber Attack 

Tell someone!  Report to IT. Report to SLT.

Unplug the computer from the internet by removing the ethernet cable or turning the Wi-Fi off. Isolate the infected device and pass to IT 

If you are a victim of a ransomware attack we would recommend reporting this to:
Action Fraud: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/ as well as your data protection officer so they can advise about the data loss or your local police and ask for the cyber crime team or phone 101 and ask for the cyber crime team.

Most cyber crimes like these will also need to be reported to the ICO by your data protection officer. Our customers should email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

These incidents should also be reported to the DfE sector cyber team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Academy trusts have to report these attacks to ESFA.

Where the incident causes long term school closure, the closure of more than 1 school or serious financial damage, you should also inform the National Cyber Security Centre.

Always ensure there are backups you can restore from.  Preserving evidence is as important as recovering from the crime.

Forward suspicious emails to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Report SMS scams by forwarding the original message to 7726 (spells SPAM on the keypad).

Little Guide to ACTION FRAUD

Search