Cyber Security
The National Cyber Security Centre continues to warn of significant and concerning increases in cyber-attacks, including ransomware attacks, on education establishment in the UK.
Cyber criminals go to great lengths to make a phishing emails look legitimate. Luckily, there are a number of ways in which you can identify phishing emails, whether you receive them at work or at home. Find out more.
Ransomware prevents you from accessing your systems or the data held on them. Typically, the data is encrypted, but it may also be deleted or stolen, or the computer itself may be made inaccessible. Following the initial attack, those responsible will usually send a ransom note demanding payment to recover the data.
Ransomware attacks can have a devastating impact on schools and can require a significant amount of recovery time to re-enable critical systems. These events can also be high profile in nature, with wide public and media interest.
Cyber criminals often target backup systems to destroy them in order to make it more likely that the victim has no route to recovery, so it is critically important to keep backups ‘off-line’ – this means not connected to your school IT. Having the ability to recover from backups is vital, so schools should regularly test that their backup solution actually works, and that data can be recovered.
The ICT Service can help:
If you would like to discuss your requirements and any concerns for your school, or find out more about our services below then please contact our team by emailing sales@theictservice.org.uk or call 0300 300 0000.
Ransomware Protection Service
Our Ransomware Protection Service, powered by Sophos Intercept X, stops ransomware in its tracks by detecting the spontaneous malicious encryption of files and rolling all encrypted files back to their original state.
This solution includes root cause analysis which gets to the bottom of the attack in seconds, identifying what happened, who did it happen to, when and how it happened. This service protects against ransomware on end user devices and servers.
Sophos Intercept X will compliment and extend the protection offered by Sophos Endpoint Protection which is already provided as part of a Schools EastNet agreement.
Cloud Backup Service
Our Cloud Backup Service, powered by Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud, runs scheduled backups of your school’s server and data every weekday evening, encrypts and stores it in a secure UK based Data Centre via the Schools EastNet connection. This completely removes the need for school staff to carry out daily local backups using attached media or other local solutions.
Acronis Cyber Backup Cloud utilises artificial intelligence to block ransomware attacks that target both systems and backup files. Schools only pay for the actual amount of backup space required and each daily backup can be retained for up to 120 working days.
Cyber Security Training for staff
The National Cyber Security Centre has now produced some excellent free cybersecurity training resources which can be used by your staff. Access the training resources online.
