CYBER SECURITY SCHOOLS AUDIT 2019: 83% of schools in the UK have suffered cyber attacks

The UK National Cyber ​​Security Centre recently cooperated with the network service provider London Grid for Learning to conduct a network security audit of 432 schools in the UK.

The audit found that almost all schools (97%) said that the inability to access the school system would have serious consequences, but the vast majority of schools (83%) had experienced cyber-attacks. According to the data, 69% of schools have experienced phishing attacks, 30% of schools have been infected with certain types of malware, 20% of schools have used internal emails for fraud, and 35% of schools have suffered cyber attacks and unable to access important files.

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In addition, 21% of schools reported having unauthorized use of on-campus computers, networks or servers, 11% of schools said that internal employees had made such mistakes, and 4% said they had the external staff to authorize the use of school IT resources. However, only 3% of schools have had information breaches.

The audit also investigated the school’s network protection. According to statistics, more than 95% of schools have firewalls, anti-virus software, data backup, and timely update security patches. As many as 85% of schools have cybersecurity programs, but only 41% have long-term security programs. The audit report concluded that the school’s safety protection measures are still not reliable.

Experts say that schools often lack relevant funding and cybersecurity experts, but they have a lot of sensitive data. Therefore, many hackers have regarded the school as a target.