The dreaded call. It was 7am on a Saturday. The realisation kicks in quicker than my morning espresso. What have we not done? What was left on our list of IT security jobs to implement? How are the backups? It’s a rush of questions whilst connecting in to face the damage.
This is what we do—what we’ve prepared the school for over months of plans, tweaks, processes, policies, password management and recovery practices. I hate to think how less experienced staff would manage this, or where to start.
A Real Incident: What Happened When a School Was Breached
Recently, a UK school faced a terrifying reality: a network breach via an open firewall port linked to Remote Desktop. Attackers created rogue admin accounts and deployed scripts to every device on the network. The warning message appeared on screens before most staff had even had their first coffee. The threat was contained just in time—before data could be encrypted or stolen. But it could have been so much worse.
The Timeline of Chaos
- Saturday, 7am: IT staff receive reports of suspicious pop-ups on staff computers.
- Immediate Response: The IT team connects remotely, reverses malicious policies, and starts scanning servers for new threats.
- Within Hours: All admin passwords are changed, remote desktop access is disabled, and emergency meetings are called.
- Further Impacts: Admin accounts lose permissions, password resets are required for all staff and students, and new suspicious accounts are discovered and disabled.
- Aftermath: The school is left to review every backup, re-secure every device, and explain to leadership how close they came to disaster.
Why This Should Terrify Every School
- Attackers target schools because they know resources are stretched and IT teams are often small.
- One missed update, one weak password, or one open port can be all it takes for criminals to gain access.
- The cost of recovery—in time, money, and reputation—can be devastating, even if no data is lost.
What Every School Must Do—Now
Don’t wait for the 7am call. Here’s what you need to do today:
- Lock Down Remote Access: Disable unused remote desktop ports and require VPN for all remote connections.
- Enforce Strong Passwords: Mandate regular password changes for all staff and students. Use a password manager (e.g., LastPass) and ensure emergency access for leadership.
- Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Especially for admin and privileged accounts.
- Review Backups: Ensure backups are regular, secure, and cannot be encrypted by attackers. Move critical data to secure cloud storage that is immutable, unable to be edited, deleted or encrypted.
- Deploy Managed Antivirus: Protect every device, including staff laptops and student devices.
- Train Staff: Run regular phishing awareness and cyber security training and test them.
- Document Your Response Plan: Make sure everyone knows what to do if the worst happens.
- Stay Compliant: Follow NCSC and DfE cyber security standards and document all incidents and responses.
How Trust IT Group Can Help
We’ve been through this. We know what it takes to recover—and more importantly, how to prevent disaster in the first place. Our team can:
- Audit your current security and highlight urgent risks
- Implement password managers, MFA, and secure backup solutions
- Provide ongoing training and support for your staff
- Help you align with DfE, RPA and NCSC standards
- Be there when you need us most—so you’re not alone at 7am on a Saturday
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Contact Trust IT Group today to secure your school’s future.
No customer data has been shared in this post. All scenarios are anonymised and for educational purposes only.