Improving cybersecurity in your school: a step by step approach
8th December 2025
School leaders are increasingly aware of threats to school networks and to the security of the large amount of critical and personal data they manage. But some may feel a little out of their depth when considering what actions will improve their school’s cybersecurity.
Breaking cybersecurity down into a series of subtopics and actions makes it a more accessible challenge for any school leader, regardless of their own technical understanding and ability.
First of all, a school leader needs to build an awareness of the increasing number of cyber threats to schools, in terms of prioritising cybersecurity. Developing an understanding of key cybersecurity concepts and basic security measures is the next step toward improving cybersecurity in your school.
Once a school leader has this awareness and basic understanding, it is more likely that cybersecurity will become a top priority for them.
“Unfortunately, cyberattacks are on the increase”, says Tom Lonergan, National Coordinator for Digital Technology Infrastructure, “and research shows that schools are increasingly under cyberattack….so schools need to take measures to protect themselves”.
To support a secure digital environment, a school needs to review its current cybersecurity status. It then needs to put a cybersecurity policy in place which will empower the school to protect their digital and online systems from harmful cyberattacks.
Online course on cybersecurity
The Oide Technology in Education online course on Cybersecurity for Schools brings school leaders through the essentials. It describes key cybersecurity concepts, including types of cyber threats, explaining key terminology and describing basic security measures. It also provides guidance on reviewing the school’s current cybersecurity status, setting out a series of key questions to self-assess your status.
Addressing cybersecurity policies and procedures is the next step. While developing such a policy may seem daunting, a template from Oide Technology in Education simplifies the process. In so doing, it helped school leaders to create an effective policy to mitigate cyberattack risks.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will have been enabled to:
- Promote an awareness of cybersecurity and safe online practices within your school’s digital infrastructure.
- Implement effective cybersecurity policies and procedures within your school, taking account of the key areas, which are:
- Access to school data and key systems
- Schools network/Wifi security, other services
- Software & application security/updates
- Protecting devices
- Data security & backups
- Incident response & recovery
- Cybersecurity awareness & training.
Why this cybersecurity course?
The online course is self-paced, taking approximately one hour. It can be completed in bite sized chunks if needed, at times and dates of the participant’s own choosing.
This relatively small investment of one hour will pay significant dividends in terms of potential improvements in a school’s approach to cybersecurity. The understanding gained will also aid school leaders in delegating specific cybersecurity tasks and responsibilities to others, thus enabling the whole school approach needed to reduce a school’s risk of cyberattack.
And of course, it is free of charge.
Course access
Cybersecurity for Schools – course description and self-enrolment link
