Cyber Incident Planning: Why Every School Needs a Response Plan

Experiencing a cyber-incident is increasingly commonplace for schools. That's why it's essential to have processes in place to monitor unusual activity - and just as importantly, to make it easy for colleagues to report anything suspicious, such as a phishing email.

Even with the best defenses and awareness training, the reality is that more and more schools are being hit by cyberattacks. This makes it critical to plan not just for prevention, but for how your school will respond when an incident occurs.

Cyber incident response planning is about being ready for a cyberattack. Like fire safety, it involves preparation, practice, and shared responsibility, and as we'll explore, it's not something that falls solely on the shoulders of the IT team - it's a whole school consideration. 

What is cyber incident response planning?

Cyber incident response planning is the process of preparing for, managing, and recovering from a cyberattack. It ensures that, should the worst happen, your school knows exactly what steps to take - quickly and calmly. 

A cyberattack can take weeks or even months to resolve fully. But a fast, well-coordinated response in the critical early hours ensures a much faster recovery, which can significantly reduce the damage. 

An incident response plan (IRP) gives everyone in your school a clear understanding of:

• What needs to be done
• Who should do it
• When it needs to be done
• How it should be done

In addition to the technical recovery and regaining control, an IRP should also include: 

• Clear, timely communication
• Evidence preservation for investigations for insurance 
• Regulatory compliance

Cybersecurity isn't just an IT issue

One of the biggest mistakes schools make is thinking cybersecurity is purely an IT issue, and a cyber-attack is something they must deal with. While a fast and effective technical response is essential, it's only one piece of the puzzle. In reality, people across the school play an equally vital role in responding to and recovering from an incident. 

Every staff member involved in school operations - whether in leadership, safeguarding, administration, or communications - may be required to act or make key decisions during a cyber incident. Knowing what to do and when can mean the difference between containing a threat quickly and spending a significant amount of time, money, and resources rebuilding assets and addressing the widespread impact. 

Cybersecurity resilience depends on shared responsibility. This means ensuring that all staff, not just technical teams, know how to recognise potential threats, report concerns quickly, and understand their role if a cyberattack occurs. Cyber awareness and readiness should be embedded across the school culture, just like safeguarding or health and safety. 

Why every school needs a response plan 

A cyber incident can quickly descend into chaos into chaos without a defined and rehearsed incident response plan. Imagine a fire in a school without the familiarity of fire drills and a clear set of roles and responsibilities - no one knows where to go or what to do. The result? Panic, confusion, and a greater safety risk. 

Cyber incidents may not be visible in the same way, but they can have just as serious consequences. 

Cyberattacks can affect all systems and software connected to your network. This includes: 

• Door entry systems 
• Phone systems
• Safeguarding information
• Pupil and parent contact details 
• Timetables and schedules 

A structured, well-communicated, and tested response plan allows you to act quickly, limit disruption, and keep your school safe and operational. 

What should be included in a Cyber Incident Response Plan?

A strong cyber incident response plan outlines the steps individual staff members of your school will take at each stage of an incident. It should provide clear guidance for initial triage, containment, internal and external communications, recovery, and post-incident reflection or lessons learned. The plan ensures everyone involved knows what's expected of them, reducing confusion and enabling a faster, more coordinated response. The more practical and accessible the plan is, the more effective it will be when it's needed most. 

Here's what you should include:

• A list of roles and responsibilities 
• Who is best placed to perform each role
• A primary and secondary person in case of vulnerability 
• A list of contact details for the internal response team
• A list of external contacts you will need to contact (these will vary depending on your location) 

Think of IRP testing like a fire drill

Testing your plan is just as important as writing it. The best way to think about this is like a fire drill. You hope you'll never need it, but knowing what to do matters when the fire alarm sounds. 

Fire drills reduce panic, ensure the safety of staff and students, and confirm that procedures actually work in practice. The same is true for cyber incident testing. It builds confidence, helps people act faster under pressure, and ensures no one relies on guesswork. 

A tabletop exercise is a good way of testing your incident response plan in a controlled and safe environment. It involves conducting an exercise around a common attack scenario, such as ransomware, with the response team working together to enact the steps needed to mitigate the issue. A tabletop exercise usually involves no technical elements; it is purely a discussion exercise to identify gaps or weaknesses in the plan and to prepare the response team should they need to be called upon. 

Why testing the plan matters

Creating a cyber incident response plan is an essential first step, but it's not enough on its own. In the middle of an incident, when time is critical, the last thing staff need is to be reading the plan for the first time. 

This is where testing comes in. 

Testing the plan ensures staff are fully aware of their role and responsibilities, right from the start. It builds confidence, reduces panic, and helps teams carry out their roles quickly and calmly. It also helps uncover any gaps, unclear instructions, or areas where more training might be needed, before you're relying on it in a real situation. 

Carving out time once a year, or when key things change, to test the incident response plan, could be the difference between minimal disruption and a prolonged shutdown. In some cases, it might be the difference between a school staying open or being forced to close temporarily. 

Summary 

Cyber incidents in schools are on the rise. The most effective way to reduce the impact is to plan, test, and involve the whole school, not just IT.

A well-prepared, well-practised incident response plan will help reduce disruption and ensure staff can respond confidently and quickly in a digital crisis. 

Think of it as part of your school's broader safeguarding and safety approach: proactive, inclusive, and essential.

Want to learn more about Incident Response Planning?

Secure Schools offers a wealth of free resources, including our Cyber Incident Response Poster, to help your school craft a top-notch incident response plan.

We also offer guidance on incident response planning in our free-to-use cyber score, which allows you to benchmark your plan and gain a wider understanding of your school's resilience against the most common cybersecurity threats. You can find out more here!