The education sector saw a worrying escalation in cyberattacks in 2024, suffering an alarming rise of 75% compared to the previous year. With student records, staff files, and the increasing adoption of online learning platforms and cloud-based infrastructure, schools are treasure troves for cybercriminals.
Cybersecurity partners like NetStrategy can support your school’s IT team in the defence against the growing number of security threats. In this article, we’re looking at penetration testing – an essential tool in our cybersecurity toolkit, and how it plays a vital role in proactively defending against cyberattacks.
What Is a Penetration Test?
A penetration test, also known as a ‘pen test’, is a simulated cyberattack that exposes vulnerabilities in a computer system, application, or network. Professionals known as ‘penetration testers’ or ‘ethical hackers’ employ these tests to diagnose and mitigate critical security weaknesses before malicious actors can exploit them.
It’s similar to hiring a security consultant to inspect your home – testing the locks and scoping for weaknesses in order to devise a security strategy that will keep your home safe. Using a variety of non-destructive methods, the penetration tester combs through the school’s infrastructure, testing defences and identifying exploitable vulnerabilities.
What Constitutes a Vulnerability?
A security vulnerability is any flaw within a school’s digital infrastructure that can be used to gain unauthorised access or disrupt its systems. This can occur due to technical faults in software or human error.
- Technical faults can refer to bugs in the software, network, or operating system, and can include outdated or unpatched programs and design flaws.
- Human error can refer to mistakes made by an individual using or configuring systems and software. This includes weak or incorrectly stored passwords and firewall ports unintentionally left open.
A technical fault is like a broken lock on a door, while human error is like someone leaving the door ajar. Either way, the door can be easily accessed by someone with malicious intent.
A single vulnerability may give a hacker access to the entire network, leading to data breaches, financial losses, or even system shutdowns. Penetration tests can improve your security posture by identifying and addressing these vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Beyond the Annual Pen Test
If you’re using a penetration test simply to tick a compliance box, then doing it once a year might suffice. But if your priority is protecting staff and student data, testing annually just isn’t enough.
Hackers are constantly evolving, leveraging new tools to bypass security systems. Qualys, a technology firm specialising in cybersecurity, reports that the number of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) surged from 17,114 in 2023 to 22,254 in 2024. This means that new vulnerabilities are being discovered every day, opening doors to data breaches, ransomware attacks, and so on. Penetration tests work extremely well to discover them, but as soon as a pen test is complete, new vulnerabilities emerge.
How Can Schools Address New Vulnerabilities?
Regular penetration testing means that emerging weaknesses in a school’s operating systems and networks are identified and mitigated quickly. Safeguarding important data requires proactive strategies rather than reactive ones. Routine penetration tests ensure:
- Preventative Measures – Rather than waiting for a breach to highlight weaknesses, routine pen testing is a pre-emptive measure to ensure that your defences remain secure. Better an ethical hacker testing your system in order to improve it than a malicious one causing harm.
- Validation of Fixes – After vulnerabilities are identified and patched, follow-up testing ensures those patches are effective and haven’t caused new issues.
- Mitigation of Risks – Once testing is done, the school is provided with a personalised report of discovered vulnerabilities and exploits prioritised by security threat level, along with a set of recommendations for remedying them.
- Compliance with Evolving Standards – Routine pen testing ensures you stay up-to-date by meeting the growing array of cybersecurity guidelines for schools.
With students’ personal data, employee payroll details, and even school budgets on the line, the stakes are simply too high to take a backseat.
The days of annual penetration tests and weekly or monthly patching are long gone. The regular penetration test is one of the best items in our arsenal to trial your school’s defences and stay ahead of cyber threats. A school culture that values continuous improvement and proactive solutions is what will best safeguard your data for years to come.
NetStrategy has a proven track record of successful penetration tests to help safeguard educational institutions against cyber threats. With our knowledge of school security systems and our deep understanding of education technology, NetStrategy is a market leader in cutting-edge cybersecurity solutions. Conduct a cybersecurity self-assessment to see if we can support your IT team in protecting your school from incoming threats, or get in touch if you’d like to know more about how regular penetration tests work.
