iscover
Share this article on:
Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
Australian and international schools are not prepared for cyber threats, putting students at risk, according to a new study.
According to a report by zero-trust cyber software provider Keeper Security, the cyber resilience of schools has not increased to meet the increased number of digital tools and IoT-connected devices in classrooms.
For its report, Cybersecurity in Schools: Safeguarding Students in the Digital Era, Keeper Security surveyed 6,000 parents and students from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, France, the UK, the US, and the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland.)
With students using an increased number of programs and devices, secure and unique passwords are important for protecting data. However, only 9 per cent of all schools provide access to a password manager.
Additionally, there appears to be a disparity between parental beliefs and reality. The survey also highlighted that while 74 per cent of parents are confident in their student’s school’s ability to protect data and put in place cyber protections, only 21 per cent said they had received secure password management guidance.
Those cyber skill gaps that aren’t being closed at school are only getting bigger at home for many students, as their parents demonstrate bad cyber security practices.
Almost one in five (19 per cent) of families admitted to password reuse and other poor practices.
“Schools play a pivotal role in educating and protecting students, but there is still a significant shortfall in cyber security readiness that must be addressed,” said the CEO and co-founder at Keeper Security, Darren Guccione.
“As digital tools increasingly become embedded in education, schools must prioritise cyber security education and provide resources to enable students to protect themselves from evolving online threats.”
Schools are also not making cyber security awareness a requirement, with only 14 per cent mandating training and an additional 13 per cent making it optional.
As a result, while only 7 per cent of respondents said their school had suffered a cyber incident, the consequences of the incidents were more severe.
Thirty-two per cent of incidents resulted in data theft, while 27 per cent suffered compromised accounts.
Be the first to hear the latest developments in the cyber industry.
