September is a time of excitement and new beginnings. Pupils enter freshly repainted classrooms with new backpacks, and the digital world of education comes to life. E-journal logins are being refreshed, e-learning platforms are filling up with materials and class messaging is boiling over.
However, behind this facade of modernity lies a growing risk that is still not talked about enough. For cybercriminals, the first call is the signal for an attack.
Shocking but true: data shows that access to school systems is often protected by passwords as trivial as ‘123456’ or ‘Spring2025’. This nonchalant approach to security is an invitation to disaster. This raises a key question: is the modern school systemically prepared for this challenge, or are we merely hoping that misfortune will pass us by?
Anatomy of a threat – Why is school a vein of gold for hackers?
To understand the scale of the problem, we need to realise how valuable data is held by educational establishments. It’s not just grades and attendance. It is a veritable mine of information:
- Personal data: Identification numbers, home addresses and contact details of both students and their parents.
- Sensitive data: Health information, allergies, as well as opinions from psychological-educational counselling centres.
- Detailed information about academic and behavioural progress that can be used for blackmail or manipulation.
Criminals have a wide range of tools to get hold of this data. The most popular is ransomware, which is encryption software that can lock down a school’s entire system – from the e-journal to the computers in the secretariat – and demand a ransom to restore access.
Equally dangerous is phishing, the mass sending of fake emails that pretend to be official communications from the school to trick logins and passwords from unsuspecting teachers or parents.
The consequences of a successful attack are not only financial losses, but above all the risk of identity theft, paralysis of the facility and a loss of trust that is difficult to rebuild.
Diagnosis of the system – Sick patient without a doctor
The problem lies not in individual incidents, but in the systemic weakness of the education sector. A digital school resembles a patient with serious symptoms that no one wants to treat.
Firstly, there is a lack of resources. Cyber security costs money, and in school budgets it is usually the last item on the spending list, losing out to renovating the roof or buying new desks. Secondly, there is a lack of competence.
Most establishments do not have full-time IT security specialists. Their role is filled by IT teachers who, in addition to teaching lessons, have to administer the network, look after equipment and respond to problems, often without adequate training and tools.
Added to this is the low awareness of the risks among teaching staff and administration. The lack of regular mandatory training means that a teacher, by clicking on a malicious link, can unknowingly open the door to an entire school network.
Finally, there is blurred accountability. Is security the responsibility of the principal, the governing body, the education authority or perhaps the e-journal software provider? This lack of a clear division of tasks leads to inaction.
Recovery plan – Diffuse but necessary accountability
Fixing the system requires integrated action at every level. This is not a problem that one person will solve.
At the level of educational authorities, clear safety standards are needed for all establishments, as well as central training programmes and financial support for the necessary audits and implementation.
At the school level, management needs to introduce tough rules: a mandatory strong password policy and multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all key systems. It is also essential to develop simple procedures in case of an incident – so that everyone knows what to do once an attack has occurred.
The role of parents is crucial. If the system is failing, we must become our children’s first line of defence. Let’s secure our home computers and smartphones, but above all – let’s talk. Let’s teach children what phishing is, how to protect their privacy and why it is important not to share their passwords.
Let’s directly answer the question posed in the title: no, the education sector as it stands is not ready for digital threats. Action is haphazard, late and largely a sham.
Ignoring this problem is a ticking bomb and the security of a generation that does not know a world without the internet is at stake. We need a global cyber security strategy for education – well thought out and implemented with ironclad consistency. This is our collective homework to do – with no concessions or deadlines for September.
