Management Information Sheet

As you will have been aware from the news over the past week, a Global cyber-attack took place last week on 12/05/2017 which resulted in serious IT issues for companies the world over, including the NHS in the UK.

It is anticipated that this could be the start of a series of attacks so we ask that all schools remain vigilant and make sure that, in particular, with all emails you take extreme precaution when opening attachments and or clicking on any links.

If you do receive reports of any incidents it is extremely important that you disconnect the device from the network by either removing the network cable or disconnecting the wi-fi connection. This prevents any potential issue spreading across the whole network.

It is vitally important for all devices that:-

• they have the most recent security patches deployed and installed - it is good practise to regularly restart your device to ensure any updates install
• back-ups are taken of critical data and or files - we recommend a cloud-based service, such as Redstor
• you are using up to date anti-virus, such as Symantec Endpoint Protection

For those schools who have purchased a support service via ourselves we have been proactively checking Windows updates and have made the critical update widely available – as recommended by Microsoft. Via Centrastage (our remote support tool), we have pushed out the recommended patch to all devices as a fail-safe and are closely monitoring the Symantec anti-virus logs.

There are some basic steps that all schools should be taking, and continue to take to minimise the risk to their systems. There are some good resources specifically for schools on the NEN website at www.nen.gov.uk/advice/ransomware. Other good sources of advice can be found at www.getsafeonline.org.