Staff at Brockington College in Leicester arrived one morning to find their mouse cursors moving across their computer screens of their own accord. They had been hacked. Suddenly, everything from library loans to pupil registers, from fire safety to school dinners, had to be done on paper.
Ther story was a familiar one. During the half-term holiday in May 2024, the IT systems at Billericay School in Essex were attacked. Names, addresses, and medical notes of students, as well as contact details of parents and carers, could have been accessed by the attackers. The school had to notify families and close temporarily to address the issue.
Many schools fear that their reputation will suffer if they reveal that they have experienced an attack. In 2025, it is a question of when, not if, and cyber security is no longer an issue that can be delegated to the IT department. It is everyone's responsibility.
Cyber security: a whole-school approach
'Our best defence is to share and discuss these things,' says Gary Henderson. He delivered a session at the Bett Show 2025 called 'Cyber resilience and schools: Let’s get pragmatic'. This included hands-on activities and practical strategies that could be used in schools.
He was disappointed – but not surprised – to find that most of the audience were IT staff. 'Only about 5% of people in the room were school leaders, heads of school, business managers, school business leaders and the like. It highlights one of my concerns. Cyber within schools continues to be seen as an IT issue. It isn't,' he said. Ironically, nowadays one of the biggest risks to cyber security may well be the mindset of senior management.