The DfE has told headteachers to “urgently review” their school’s cyber defences as it warned of an increasing number of attacks on computer systems in education, the TES reports.
In an email sent to heads yesterday, seen by the magazine, the DfE said senior leaders needed to take measures to protect their schools from attack.
The email says: “The Department for Education and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have been made aware of an increasing number of cyber attacks involving ransomware infection affecting the education sector recently.
“It is important that senior leaders in education settings understand the nature of the threat and the potential for ransomware to cause considerable damage to their institutions in terms of lost data and access to critical services.”
Schools have been told not to pay ransoms in the case of ransomwear attacks as payment did not guarantee services and files being restored to normal.
The email adds: “It is vital that you urgently review your existing defences and take the necessary steps to protect your networks from cyber-attacks.
“Along with your defences, having the ability to restore the systems and recover data from backups is vital.”