Schools need to develop a 'hack plan’ following NHS cyber attack

Hack plans must be developed by schools after the NHS’s computer system fell victim to a cyber attack, Schools Week has reported.

Security experts say teachers should not open links or attachments on laptops or phones connected to a school’s network in case the message is a fraud.

Ken Corish, online safety director at the education tech charity, South West Grid for Learning, said “more and more schools” had been hit by ransomware viruses that encrypted sensitive data before the hackers demanded payment to get it back.

He said that “Tens of schools” in the southwest had been affected over the past year, with some paying thousands of pounds to hackers.

The warning comes after a computer virus entered the NHS’s outdated XP Windows system, which left many hospitals unable to access the medical records of patients. Not only this, a ransom of bitcoins was demanded, which is the internet currency.

Steve Proffitt, deputy head of Action Fraud, the national cybercrime reporting centre, told Schools Week the hackers were likely to morph the ransomware and attack again.

“Schools using old Windows systems are incredibly vulnerable.

“If systems are susceptible, the virus could go into your finance details and empty your budget for the year.”

According to security experts, schools should have a data protection strategy, with sensitive data backed up daily off-site or in the Cloud, and all other data backed up weekly.

This would allow data to be recovered without payment if there were a ransomware attack.

In addition this, it is suggested that staff should be trained to recognise a ransomware attack.