LGfL CyberSecurity Newsletter 

Dear Colleague ,

Welcome back to news from @LGfLCyberCloud. This edition includes:

• Free security training for SLT (strategic, not techie)
• VMware security vulnerability
• NCSC Cyber Sprinters game for Key Stage 2
• New NCSC security website for schools
• Security breaches survey - what do you need to know? 
• Phishing - what can you do?
• Free to LGfL schools - Sophos Home for staff personal devices
• Top Technical Tip - keep your school secure

Free CyberCloud Training

LGfL is running new security training designed by the National Cyber Security Centre. The next available spaces are on 21 July. Sign up and find further details here. Note that the session is strategic rather than technical, so great for SLT.

VMware Security Vulnerability

VMware have released a security patch for Center that protects systems from a remote code execution vulnerability.

If you use VMware, we strongly recommend you read the security advisory.

NCSC Cyber Sprinters

The NCSC has also launched a new online game to give children a head start with staying cyber secure. A great way to start beginning security education with Key Stage 2.

NCSC Website for Schools

There is a new NCSC website where you can find all the relevant guidance for schools, including governor information, staff training and information and resources for IT teams. It is a great place to look if you’re not sure where to start, or just want to check that you are following current guidance and best-practice.

Breaches Survey 2021

The Government Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 has an education Annex which includes some truly frightening statistics.

This image shows the percentage of schools that have identified a breach or attack in the last year. Click on the image to read the education report.

8% of Primary and 4% of Secondary schools have experienced a ransomware attack. We highly recommend reviewing your backup processes in case you need to recover from an incident in the future. Many adopt the 3-2-1 Backup rule as a standard to follow

             3 – A minimum of 3 backup versions

             2 – 2 different media types

             1 – Offsite copy

If you are not sure where to start, LGfL schools have the Gridstore backup solution available to them.

Phishing

Schools continue to be inundated with phishing emails. The Government Breaches Survey showed over 80% of education organisations have identified phishing attacks in the last year. LGfL provide Sophos Phish free to Let’s Get Digital customers to help raise awareness and train staff how to deal identify and manage phish emails.

Sophos for Personal Devices

AVAILABLE NOW

Free Sophos Home Commercial licenses for LGfL school staff to use on up to ten personal devices.

Given that school staff may carry out schoolwork on personal devices, it is in a school's interest to protect them wherever possible. That's where Sophos Home comes in - every member of your school staff can access 10 licences for Sophos Home Commercial edition to install on personal Windows or Mac devices.

Visit sophoshome.lgfl.net

Technical Tips

Domain and global admin accounts are the keys to the kingdom. If a single one of them is compromised it can lead to disaster. Here are a few tips you can take to reduce the risk these accounts pose.

• Wherever possible use Multi-Factor Authentication
• Store credentials in secure password managers
• Use unique long passphrases instead of short similar passwords
• Use separate accounts for admin and everyday tasks
• Don’t share admin accounts
• Only use global admin accounts when performing global admin tasks
• Delegate appropriate permissions to everyday admin accounts
• Regularly review who has access to admin accounts
• Regularly review who is a member of admin security groups
• Setup alerts for changes to admin privileges

Feedback

We’d love to hear from you if you have any ideas for content that can be included in the newsletter or if you have a story you would like to share. We would also love to hear if you have any suggestions for cybersecurity tools or services that you would like to see from LGfL.  To get in touch please email cybercloud@lgfl.net

Kind regards,

Your CyberCloud Team 

Highlights from Other Areas of LGfL

Don't forget there's lots happening at LGfL for other areas of the school beyond security, such as:

• Leasing options on our Bridge the Divide devices
• Other free training from LGfL teams
• Find out all we do beyond broadband here
• Sign up to one of the other newsletters

Join our Growing Community