This guest post was written by one of our partners, 9ine, a cybersecurity consulting group for K-12 schools.
In the modern educational landscape, the importance of robust cybersecurity cannot be overstated. Schools are custodians of sensitive data, from student records to financial information, making them attractive targets for cybercriminals. Proper budgeting for cybersecurity is crucial, and the allocation of funds should be tailored to the specific infrastructure and needs of each school. Here’s how schools can strategically plan their cybersecurity budget.
Understand Your School’s Risks
The first step in creating a cybersecurity budget is to understand the specific risks faced by your school. This involves conducting a thorough risk assessment to identify potential vulnerabilities. The nature of these risks will largely depend on whether your school relies more on local infrastructure or cloud-based systems.
Local Infrastructure
For schools with significant local infrastructure, the primary focus should be on local vulnerability assessments. This involves identifying weaknesses in your school’s hardware, software, and network systems. Investing in engineering projects that limit an attacker’s ability to move laterally within the system is essential. Such projects might include network segmentation, which isolates different parts of the network to prevent the spread of malware, and the implementation of robust firewalls and intrusion detection systems.
Additionally, regular updates and patches to the local systems are critical to protect against known vulnerabilities. Schools should allocate funds for a dedicated IT team or external consultants who can perform these updates and monitor the systems continuously.
Cloud-Based Systems
If your school primarily uses cloud-based systems, the approach to cybersecurity will differ slightly. While a vulnerability assessment is still crucial, the emphasis should shift towards training staff on cloud security best practices. Many cybersecurity incidents occur due to human error, such as weak passwords or misconfigured access settings. Investing in comprehensive training programs for staff can mitigate these risks significantly.
Moreover, it’s vital to document the data connectors between each system. This means understanding how different cloud services interact and depend on each other. By doing so, schools can better anticipate the impact of a potential cyberattack on one system and prevent it from compromising others. For example, if a primary cloud service is compromised, understanding these dependencies can help in quickly isolating the affected system and maintaining overall operational integrity.
Balancing the Budget
Whether your school is locally based, cloud-based, or a hybrid of both, balancing the budget across various aspects of cybersecurity is key. Allocating funds for both technological defenses and human factors, such as training and policy development, ensures a comprehensive approach.
In summary, schools must tailor their cybersecurity budgets to their unique infrastructure needs. By focusing on local vulnerability assessments and engineering projects for local systems, or staff training and data connector documentation for cloud-based systems, schools can create a robust cybersecurity posture. This strategic approach not only protects sensitive data but also ensures a safe learning environment for students and staff alike.
For schools looking for expert assistance, get in touch with our partners at 9ine for comprehensive cybersecurity testing services across all technology setups, including local, cloud, and hybrid systems.
About 9ine
9ine is a leading education technology consultancy in compliance and security. They specialize in privacy law compliance and help schools ensure the safe management of their learners’ data.
About Veracross
Veracross is the one-person, one-record school management platform for K-12 private and independent schools. Our 100% cloud-based solution provides access to the data you need, when you need it — without any plug-ins or VPNs.
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