Best Practice Update

A hand holding a bomb with the word 'MFA' in white.  Harry the hacker phishing a laptop to the bomb

MFA Bombing - What is it?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) and MFA bombing and how cyber criminals are using it to break into accounts.
MFA is a security process that requires more than one method of authentication from independent categories to verify the user's identity for a login or other transaction.  The aim of MFA is to provide an additional layer of security beyond just a username and password.

MFA bombing which is also known as "push bombing" or "MFA fatigue", is a brute force attack on your patience. MFA provides an increase in security and makes life much harder for criminals because of the extra requirements by a user to respond to logging in.  Usually criminals use stolen credentials to try logging in or using them to reset a user's password. Cyber criminals will bombard a use with push notifications by asking them to continually approve the login or messages to change their password.  This works by users  tapping in the wrong option or getting fed up with the notifications.  These attacks have evolved to become more sophisticated with the criminals now calling you pretending to come to your rescue, for example, pretending to call from Apple Support.

Further information about this can be read in the full report: MFA Bombing taken to the next level

We can provide help and guidance around cyber and information security via our Information and Cyber Best Practice Area.

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

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