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It’s a question schools and educational establishments keep on hearing and rightly so, with highly sensitive data such as personal information of parents and students, schools and educational establishments are prime targets for cyber-attacks. However, often their senior leadership teams just don’t know where to start.
This is critical to address, because more recently, funding grants and cyber insurance have become reliant on the Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus certifications. Without them schools and educational establishments could be missing out on significant funding and grants. The Education and Skills Funding Agency in the 2020-2021 funding year updated their data security requirements to include Cyber Essentials certification. For the 2021-2022 funding year their data security requirements include the Cyber Essentials Plus Certification (ESFA Update,Gov, 2020).
There’s also the matter of cyber insurance to consider. For many insurance policies which provide financial, legal, and technical support in the event of a breach, a Cyber Essentials certification is a must. However, surprisingly the awareness of the scheme in schools and educational establishments across the UK is alarmingly low. With just over half of schools (53%) feeling prepared for a cyber incident (Cyber Security Schools Audit, National Cyber Security Centre and LGFL, 2022).
What does Cyber Essentials cover?
Designed to help organisations, including educational establishments protect themselves against cyber threats, the detailed certification includes a security framework which schools are assessed and certified against. The certification explores 5 key areas:
• Firewall protection
• Secure configuration
• User access control
• Malware protection
• Patch management
What’s the difference between Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus?
Both forms provide the initial assessment covering the 5 essentials. However, with Plus a school’s environment is verified by a Cyber Essentials certified assessor, carrying greater value for a school. Schools are required to recertify each year, as the certification’s requirements change regularly to keep up with advancing technology and threats.
Why should you become certified?
Being Cyber Essentials certified provides that all important peace of mind. School teachers and leadership already have more important things to be focusing on, being certified can help provide the reassurance that schools are as protected as they can be. In addition to funding bodies and insurers, schools can demonstrate to parents and other stakeholders that they take cyber security seriously. This provides renewed confidence in the school and its practices.
How can Schools become Cyber Essentials Plus certified?
Schools can work with IT partners who guide them through the journey of becoming accredited by the government-backed scheme. Before undertaking the certification, they support a school in reviewing your current set up to ensure they are doing everything they should to stay protected, ensuring they pass the Cyber Essentials Plus certification.
Getting started
Firstly, schools should be educating their staff and students on cyber security and what it means. Becoming Cyber Essentials certified should not just be viewed as a box ticked. To create a security-minded culture, schools and educational establishments should be building cyber security best practice into their DNA. That’s because cyber security threats are not going away and continue to evolve. There is no doubt that schools are tasked with meeting a moving target, which with increasing budget cuts and recruitment challenges, can feel unachievable.
That’s why it’s key for schools to choose trusted partners they can rely on to provide wellfounded guidance and support. IT partners can work with schools to identify their needs and requirements and put the right security measures in place to ensure and help them pass the Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus certification. Getting started is the hardest part for schools and educational establishments, it can feel overwhelming and unachievable if they don’t know where to look first. That’s why Sharp UK provide a plethora of information and services to help schools build better cyber security foundations. Scan below or visit us at sharp.co.uk/events to join Sharp UK’s free webinar, exploring how to “Optimise your Cyber Security Strategy”, where we’ll take a deep dive into Cyber Essentials.
