Last week I attended a cyber security event put on by Schools North East, a network of all the schools in the North East of England, set up by Head Teachers over twelve years ago. They are the first and only regional network of schools in the UK and work to create a unique culture of collaboration and mutual support amongst North East schools. CyberNorth is a member of the organisation and I have blogged in the past about their conference in Newcastle.
It was billed as a half day training event on cyber resilience aimed at School Business Managers, Senior Leaders, Head Teachers etc. My role was to chair the panel session as the event wrapped up, something I always enjoy doing.
Although the learning sector is not CyberNorth’s core group it was a great event and gave me an opportunity to mention the large number of suppliers in the region and the CyberFirst programme. I got the chance to renew some acquaintances with the North East Business Resilience Centre and IT Professional Services which was sponsoring the event. I also got to meet Joy Allen, Durham Police and Crime Commissioner. Although we had met when I was at Durham County Council, this was in a different context and we agreed to meet up again.
A lot of the talks and learning opportunities were around protecting data and its loss. This is hugely important for all businesses and especially schools as they keep personal data on children and young people, some of whom are vulnerable.
Yet there is another angle which is not always considered and that is the disruption that cyber attacks can cause. The threat may come from the loss of data but the practical implications of trying to run your business without IT can be horrendous. In common with most organisations, schools are increasingly reliant on technology, not just for their curriculum but things such as paying for meals (or not), door entry systems, telephony and attendance.
Graham Jordan covered this well in his resilience guide.
The list goes on and I suspect that this is where the focus of the school management should be. Which systems do we have? Which are critical to the way that the school is run? Which systems rely on each other? How would we cope without them?
Thinking about it (and I do) this is no different to any other business other than the scope and range of the systems employed.
Our focus should not be only on data but disruption.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 