What to do in the event of a Cyber Attack
We've produced a document to provide help and guidance in the event of a cyber attack. The document is part of our Information and Cyber Security Best Practice Area and covers:
This document gives a list of who to contact and what to do just after a cyber attack. It covers:
- Containing the Infection
- Communicating
- Assessing
- Incident Response Team
- Forensic Analysis
- Remediation
- Data Recovery and Restoration
- Legal and Regulatory Compliance
- Learning from the Incident
It also includes a Data Breach Assessment Matrix to help you understand which personal data categories have been breached, so you can assess the risk to data subjects.
The document may be particularly useful for schools or organisations where there is not a resident IT professional available.
The document is downloadable:
document
What to do immediately after a Cyber Attack(58 KB)
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:
- the NCSC website if the incident or attack causes long term school closure, the closure of more than one school, or serious financial damage
- the ICO website within 72 hours, where a high risk data breach has or may have occurred
- your cyber insurance provider (if you have one), such as risk protection arrangement (RPA)
- Jisc, if you are a part of a further education institution
You must act in accordance with:
- Action Fraud guidance for reporting fraud and cyber crime
- Academy Trust Handbook Part 6, if you are part of an academy trust
- ICO requirements for reporting personal data breaches
Police investigations may find out if any compromised data has been published or sold and identify the perpetrator.
Preserving evidence is as important as recovering from the crime.
Forward suspicious emails to