How does cybersecurity support data protection?

Two main things motivate cybercriminals, kudos and money. Whilst some just want to cause havoc, seek revenge or receive kudos from their peers, including your staff and pupils, most are in it for financial rewards.

These criminals make money directly from individuals or schools, usually by tricking people into paying money into their bank accounts or selling the personal data they accessed during an attack. Criminals wanting to sell personal data, attack schools with the single aim of accessing the data of pupils and staff, and this is where cyber security and data protection align.

Schools and districts have a responsibility to protect the personal data shared with them by staff and students. As schools come under attack more and more from cyber criminals, cyber security should be one of the approaches schools use to protect this data.

Ways to align cybersecurity and data protection in your school

1. Talk about cyber security and data protection together.
2. Train your data protection lead in cyber security.
3. Help people to understand that cybercriminals are predominately after personal data.
   
   

Check your state's Data Breach Notification Laws about when a breach needs to be reported but, this is usually when there is a risk to the individuals whose data has been breached. When reporting the breach, you will be asked how it happened and some states will ask whether it was through a cyberattack or malicious or criminal activity.

How can Secure Schools help?
At Secure Schools, we are experts in protecting your school and district from cybercrime. This includes supporting you to understand where the risks are in your networks and helping you to manage these risks, providing training to help everyone protect personal data and working with you to put processes and continuity plans in place if a cyber incident did happen.