A high school in south London was closed for the first part of this term due to a ransomware attack. Students were sent home advising parents that the school would be closed for three days while all staff devices were 'cleansed'.
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Another school has been hit by a cyber attack, this time in Canvey Island, Essex, who say the cyber attack happened during the summer holidays.
🛡️✅ Gone are the days when cyber security issues meant accidentally downloading a virus, it has grown to mean so much more, where data and identities are stolen, fraud is committed and businesses can be shut down from a cyber attack. With that in mind we have created a cyber security best practice area to help guide and support your data protection compliance.
The data protection officer is mentioned many times in the DfE Digital Standards for Schools and Colleges as someone that should either be informed or consulted with. As part of that consultation process, we would like to announce our new DfE Digital Standards for Schools and Colleges Tracker.
We are launching a new best practice area which has all the policies, documents and posters in one place. You can find this page in our main best practice area:
We've put all the specific school and trust related data protection guides, documents and queries into one area to make it easier for you.
We recognised that a number of our customers needed a generic retention schedule to help get them started with their records management.
We've updated our 'Making the Rounds', data walk, to include some central processes that should be included in data protection and cyber security compliance:
An update this week from the ESFA has reported a change in requirements regarding IT security for colleges and special post-16 institutions (SPIs).
The ICO have issued a reprimand to a school that did not follow due diligence when introducing facial recognition technology (FRT).
The recent news has been full of the global IT outage that affected many systems over the weekend, including airlines and patient access. Although the incident was not caused by a cyber attack, it is important to note that it was a cyber incident which affects everyone.
A cyber incident is an event with threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information systems, networks or the information they contain.
Review our previous article: What's a Cyber
A cyber incident is an event with threatens the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information systems, networks or the information they contain.
Review our previous article: What's a Cyber
King's speech introduces new bills in relation to cyber security, smart data and digital information
Plans for the new government to introduce legislation for cyber security, digital and data were outlined in the King's speech on 17 July 2024.
Ageing and out of date technology is an every day challenge for most schools and small businesses, but is there a risk?
We are asked a lot about retention schedules and keeping file when a pupil moves onto another school.
This short video explains the basics behind data retention and the implications of keeping data for longer than required.
Knowledge Bank
We have a retention schedule on our Knowledge Bank portal where you can check the retention period for all types of files in your organisation.
Visit our Records Management Be
This article is for all schools, colleges and multi academy trusts as a first step towards looking at the DfE Digital Standards for Schools and Colleges.
This article discusses what a cyber incident is and what you should do if you experience one. The important thing to note is that this isn't a full-blown cyber attack, but you should still go through various reporting and risk management processes.
We've been asked by some of our customers what they need to consider when thinking about using AI to improve job efficiency as a time saving exercise or part of CPD, so staff related.
This article puts together some available resources as an initial step.
This article puts together some available resources as an initial step.
Unfortunately, a school has declared a 'significant critical incident' after it was targeted in a cyber attack.
Regular cyber training for staff is crucial given the amount of systems involved in running organisations. Schools and Trusts should be doing this annually as advised by the DfE Cyber Security Digital Standards.
The DfE have announced a new update to the DfE Digital Cyber Security Standards for Schools and Colleges.
The BBC have recently reported that due to the number of cyber attacks on schools that the ICO have seen an increase of 55% since 2022 of cyber incidents in the education and childcare sector.
The ICO has published a report today about 'learning from the mistakes of others'. Given that cyber security is a crucial part of protection information and it is important to note that security breaches frequently lead to information breaches.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway has confirmed some children’s mental health data has been published by criminals following a cyber attack.
The aftermath of cyber attacks on schools and multi academy trusts is rarely documented or shared, so it was refreshing to see this video made in conjunction with GovernorHub.
The Vale Federation is made up of two special schools, Booker Park and Stocklake Park who have worked with Data Protection Education for a number of years on compliance and data protection. They are based in Aylesbury and are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.
The DfE have recently published updates to their Data Protection toolkit. Previously there had been very little guidance in the toolkit about how to respond to Subject Access Requests. There is now a specific section on this and an extra update about responding to other data rights requests such as changing, deleting or restricting of personal information.
The DfE recently updated their guidance for practitioners providing safeguarding services for children, young people, parents and carers. We have highlighted the changes below and what that might mean regarding data protection and data sharing.
The ICO recently published some guidance about what to do if you receive an FOI request generated by Artificial Intelligence.
We've launched a social media best practice area which brings together all privacy considerations around the use of social media.
- Lettings Best Practice Area
- MFA Bombing - What is it?
- Protecting your Social Media Accounts
- Why we recommend using checklists
- Product Focus on Checklists : Initial Trust Plan
- Product Focus on Checklists : End of Term Checklist
- Product Focus on Checklists : Information and Cyber Security
- Product Focus on Checklists : Social Media
- Cyber Incident Review: The Benefits
- Product Focus on Checklists : Lettings
- Product Focus on Checklists : Record of Processing
- Milk Island: The secret location that allows children to view restricted content on Google Maps
- Why Data Should Stay Put: Benefits of Keeping Data in Its Original System
- Product Focus on Checklists : Data Retention and Destruction
- Product Focus on Checklists : Data Migration
- Product Focus on Checklists : Biometrics
- Product Focus on Checklists : Supplier Due Diligence
- Free Cyber help, advice and training with the Cyber Resilience Centres
- The Perils of Paper: The Printing Vulnerability
- Product Focus on Checklists : FOI
- Product Focus on Checklists : Governors and Data
- Product Focus on Checklists : DPIA
- Product Focus on Checklists : Site Moves
- Product Focus on Checklists : Data Breaches
- Product Focus on Checklists : Subject Access Requests
- Cyber attack on a University
- Product Focus on Checklists : Bring your own device
- Product Focus on Checklists : Working out of school/offsite
- Cyber Attack on a School
- Product Focus on Checklists : Redaction
- Major cyber-criminal gang Lockbit brought down by UK Law Enforcement
- Why Due Diligence is Important: Fake apps
- Product Focus on Checklists : CCTV
- Product Focus on Checklists : Clear desk
- Product Focus on Checklists : Commitment to compliance
- Product Focus on Checklists : Photos and video
- Product Focus on Checklists : Passwords
- Product Focus on Checklists : Information Classification
- Safer Internet Day 2024
- Kent Councils Data Breach
- Free cyber training for staff
- DfE Digital Standards Update
- The Mother of all Breaches
- ClassCharts Possible Data Breach
- Where is your data stored?
- IAPP looks at AI privacy risks
- If you suspect a financial scam .....
- Guardians of Privacy: 16. Social Media Checklist
- Guardians of Privacy: 15. Navigating Social Media in Educational Settings Summary
- Guardians of Privacy: 14. Social Media and Cyber Bullying
- Guardians of Privacy: 13. Social Media, Copyright and Intellectual Property
- Guardians of Privacy: 12. Social Media and Going Viral
- Guardians of Privacy: 11. Staff Social Media Accounts
- Guardians of Privacy: 10. Social Media and Cookies
- Guardians of Privacy: 9. Social Media and Morality
- New Resources for Schools from the ICO
- Guardians of Privacy: 8. Social Media Policies
- Guardians of Privacy: 7. Social Media Data Retention
- Guardians of Privacy: 6. Posting Safely
- Guardians of Privacy: 5. Social Media and Consent
- Guardians of Privacy: 4. Social Media Access Control
- Guardians of Privacy: 3. Social Media Channels
- Guardians of Privacy: 2. Law and Regulations
- Guardians of Privacy: 1. Social media, privacy and children
- Latest ICO Reprimand. Mr. S. Claus, Chief Executive Officer, North Pole Enterprises
- Phishing attacks targeting schools - alert from City of London Police
- The ICO reprimands a Multi Academy Trust
- Guidance for the use of school email and applying email retention in schools
- CISA and UK NCSC Announce Joint Guidelines for Secure AI System Development
- Data Protection Tips for Early Years Settings
- Children's Privacy around the world is a puzzle
- Trust Initial Plan Checklist Update
- Update on Advisory for Rhysida Ransomware
- Records Management Best Practice Update
- The Crime in a Cyber Attack and a Data Breach
- What do I need to redact?
- NCSC Annual Review is published for 2023
- Learning from Data Breaches
- Windows 11 security ineffective against attacks on old devices
- Trust Initial Plan for Data Protection Compliance (for Multi Academy Trusts)
- International Counter Ransomware Initiative 2023 Joint Statement
- Google for Education Resources: Helping IT Admins meet DfE digital and technology standards
- Resistant Cloud Backups
- Top Ten Cyber Security Misconfigurations
- Lettings Best Practice and Guidance
- ICO Reprimand: company suffered a ransomware attack
- The UK Online Safety Bill becomes an Act (Law)
- Considerations when migrating to a new MIS
- The importance of software updates (PaperCut vulnerability and Rhysida ransomware)
- Public bodies and sensitive data
- Adding offline bulk training using the Certificates function
- Ransomware, extortion and the cyber crime ecosystem
- Get a DPE Badge for your website!
- ICO: 10 Step guide to sharing information to safeguard children
- Cyber Resource: The Cyber Resilience Centre Group
- Email and Security: ICO recent guidance
- Help after a Cyber Attack/Incident
- Social Media Policy
- Data Protection and Cyber Security (Inset Day) Training Ideas
- Changes to Microsoft Free Licensing for Schools
- What to do in the event of a Cyber Attack
- Cyber Crime: AI Generated Phishing Attacks
- Handling Freedom of Information Requests the right way
- Cyber Attack: Exam Boards
- VICE SOCIETY - Ransomware attacks on schools
- Using Tags if you are a group of organisations in the DPE Knowledge Bank
- Where's Harry the Hacker?
- Be Cyber Aware: USB Sticks
- Cyber Insurance in the Public Sector
- Types of Cyber Attacks: DDos Attack (Microsoft DDoS Attack in June)
- Cyber Attack: Leytonstone School
- The ICO Reprimands a school
- Be Cyber Aware: Firewalls
- Be Cyber Aware: Cyber attacks and transparency. A no blame culture
- Cyber Attack: Dorchester School
- Knowledge Bank Role Types: Admin, Staff and Trustee
- Types of Cyber Attacks: Password Attacks
- Be Cyber Aware: Why regular software updates are important
- Cyber Attack: Wiltshire School
- Keeping your IT systems safe and secure
- Types of Cyber Attacks: DDoS Attacks
- Types of Cyber Attacks: Phishing
- Types of Cyber Attacks: The Insider Threat
- Why your data is profitable to cyber criminals
- Using WhatsApp in Schools
- The Changes to Data Protection in the UK
- Knowledge Bank Updates
- Types of malware and how they are linked to data protection
- Striking Data Breach
- IPR Protection Email Scam
- Windows Server 2012 & 2012 R2 Retirement
- How to contact us for support, subject access requests, data breaches and FOI's
- YouTube breached child protection laws
- How a school fought back after a cyberattack
- Types of Cyber Attacks - Credential Stuffing
- January Cyber update - How Can Schools Help Prevent Cyber Attacks?
- Assigning courses to staff using to-dos
- How the Record of Processing Can Help You
- Information Security Basics: What are VPN's?
- What does a Data Protection Officer Do?
- Are you ready for a Data Breach?
- Carrying out Supplier Due Diligence
- How Long Should You Keep Personal Data For?
- The Education sector now at highest risk of cyber attacks
- How to Assess your Data Security
- Schools Blocked from Using Facial Recognition Systems
- The Children's Code
- B&H FoI: Racist/religious incidents/bullying
- Cyber Attacks
- Protocol for Setting Up and Delivery of Online Teaching and Learning
- Class Dojo International Data Sharing
- Model Publication Scheme: Amendments, Improvements and Updates
- Child friendly privacy notices
- Transparency
- Secure file transfer of files using Royal Mail
- Emergency contacts and consent
- Key elements of a successful DPIA
- FOI Publication Schemes
- SHARE: Avoid disinformation online
- Best Practice for Managing Photos and Video
- New Drip Feeds: Recognise and Respond to Subject Access Request
- When to contact the Data Protection Officer?
- National child measurement programme
- Compliance Manager released
- Headteacher fined for breach of data protection legislation
- Emails – good practice and minimising the risk of a data breach
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