Press Releases

08 October 2008

Education Industry needs a refresher course in data security

Schools are responsible for looking after their students. It is a teacher’s job to zip up coats, wipe away tears, and teach children the things they need to know. There are procedures in place to make sure that students are looked after while they are under the school’s care, but what about a student’s personal data? Are British Schools keeping their students’ data safe?

According to a recent survey by Databarracks, 92% of education institutions say they back up their data, however, analysing this further, the survey shows that while 60% take the data offsite, 55% of them have this function performed by a member of staff who takes the data home. Though rooted in good intentions, this is not a comforting solution in light of the amount of data loss which has occurred over the years as a result of staff negligence.

Databarracks’ survey also revealed that 20% of these institutions are aware of data retention regulations, but are uncertain that they are compliant. Further, 26% of them were unaware of the regulations.

Different categories of data warrant different retention periods and ultimately, disposal measures, which is a lot to keep straight, especially considering that education professionals have enough on their plates without asking them to be IT experts.

Becta, the Government's lead agency for information and communications technology (ICT), is trying to make data protection easier to achieve, making available guidelines and policies for managing data and responding to security incidents and threats.

According to industry retention regulations, everything from financial records, to old classroom materials, to exam results and staff records must all be retained, each with individual retention periods ranging from 6 months for disciplinary warnings to 85 years for salary cards.

Jeremy Gray, Sales Manager of Databarracks, explains: “As a managed service provider we’re always striving to understand different challenges industries face with their backup and storage requirements so we can work as an extension of their IT department and provide a complete backup and recovery service. The survey shows that although the education sector has a lot to comply with, their understanding of the backup methodology and its capabilities needs to be improved. Until guidelines are followed, education institutions are susceptible to disasters and it’s our job to tailor our service to change this reality.”

---

 Back to Top