Schools being offered free cyber defence tools

Schools across the country are able to benefit from free cyber defence tools from the NCSC experts to help them protect their emails and websites from online attackers.

UK schools are being encouraged to sign up for Mail Check and Web Check: two pioneering services that help organisations identify potential cyber security issues and fix them promptly.

The NCSC tools have been rolled out to help schools defend against the continuing threat from cyber criminals whose activities can put sensitive data at risk and affect institutions’ reputation and ability to operate.

Sarah Lyons, NCSC Deputy Director for Economy and Society Resilience, said: “Technology plays a central role to the way schools operate, so it’s vital they have the right controls in place to identify security issues and fix them promptly.

“By signing up to our pioneering Mail Check and Web Check services, schools can help to defend their email servers and websites from common cyber threats with a few actionable steps. We strongly encourage schools to use these free tools to help make the most of modern technology in as safe a way as possible.”

The Web Check service scans websites to check for common, significant vulnerabilities and sends a report to organisations flagging any issues according to severity alongside advice on how to fix the problems.

Mail Check is designed to help technical teams assess and improve two areas of email security: anti-spoofing controls to prevent attackers sending emails pretending to be from your organisation, and email privacy measures to prevent data being altered or read in transit.