Cyber-attacks against schools continue to be a concern across the Eastern region. The reasons for this are fairly simple.
Thousands of schools have been attacked over the past few years and many have resulted in long term problems for the organisations affected, including the staff, students, and parents. Whilst the rise in attacks was blamed partly on the pandemic and a rise in remote learning, the risk to schools will persist until they are provided with the tools to fight back. And these attacks are happening right now in our region. In the summer of 2021, a ransomware attack against schools in Kent actually caused several to close for several days whilst the data breach was resolved. And these cyber-attacks are continuing to affect schools and colleges every day in our region.
The vast majority of crimes committed in the UK currently – at least 80% - are fraud. And almost all are committed as online cybercrimes. But only about 1% of the UK police budget is spent on cyber and fraud.
That means, as a business or any other organisation, if you become a victim of fraud or a cyber-attack, you probably won’t get your money back and the police probably won’t catch the offenders. And in many cases, you will be all alone trying to figure out what to next.
The ERCR takes you out of this dark place and provides real world help and guidance to get you to understand where your vulnerabilities online are and what options you may have to make yourselves more secure. All in all that means you’re less likely to be a victim in the first place and if you do, you will have a clear route out to get your organisation operating again swiftly and efficiently.
The answer is ‘A lot!’
As most readers will already know the community membership is package is completely free and includes the following
There is a ton of free cyber stuff available for schools and it changes monthly as some services appear and others are replaced. Membership means you no longer have root around obscure government websites trying to find the latest offers – we do all that hard work for you to make sure that you never miss out on what’s available.
The impact of a successful attack against your website or network can be catastrophic and lead to website downtime, loss of data and permanent loss of reputation. But all is not lost.
Here at the centre, we would recommend that you consider.
If you are a business, charity or other organisation which is currently suffering a live cyber-attack (in progress), please call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 immediately. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Please report online to Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. You can report cybercrime online at any time using the online reporting tool, which will guide you through simple questions to identify what has happened. Action Fraud advisors can also provide the help, support, and advice you need.
Alternatively, you can call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 (textphone 0300 123 2050).
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