Since it's creation in 1990 the internet has revolutionised the way in which schools, academies, colleges and universities operate, however this revolution has also brought with it many security threats and risks that schools need to protect against.
Just as the internet has evolved, so has criminal activity and security threats. Viruses have become very sophisticated and are still very much in circulation throughout the internet, and within email attachments.
And lets not forget about the more aggressive, and in some case innovative malware, which is specifically designed to cause damage, or gain authosied access to computer systems and education networks.
Then there's computer and network hacking along with many other forms of cybercrime. It is a massive challenge for schools to ensure their own data, pupil / staff data and other information is kept safe, and further more schools have strict safeguarding and data protection regulations (GDPR) to abide by, or they could face substantial fines or could potentially be in breach of OFSTED guidelines.
At Soltech IT we work with our schools to produce security heat maps with a full assessment of policies, procedures, people and technology.
The security heat map will identify issues and/or vulnerabilities. It will determine what is needed to resolve these issues and how best to protect a school.