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 

Incidents or attacks where any security breaches may have taken place, or other damage was caused, should be reported to an external body. 

The SLT digital lead will be responsible for assigning someone to report any suspicious cyber incidents or attacks. This person will need to report this to: 

  • Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or the Action Fraud website 
  • the DfE sector cyber team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

You may also need to report to: 

You must act in accordance with: 

Police investigations may find out if any compromised data has been published or sold and identify the perpetrator. 

m.  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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