British High School Closure: Cyberattack on IT System
In January 2026, Higham Lane School in Nuneaton was forced to close following a devastating cyberattack that knocked out email, phone lines, and its central management system. This is not an isolated incident. Schools across the UK are increasingly targeted by cybercriminals, and understanding what happened, why it happens, and how to respond is essential for every school administrator.
What Is a School Cyberattack?
A school cyberattack is a deliberate attempt by cybercriminals to access, disrupt, or damage a school's computer systems, networks, or data. Attackers aim to either steal data, disrupt operations, or hold systems hostage until the school pays a ransom. Schools are attractive targets because they store sensitive student information and rely heavily on digital systems for daily operations.
Example: In 2024, a UK secondary school lost access to its student information system for three days after attackers encrypted attendance and safeguarding records with ransomware.
“Schools are no longer accidental victims, attackers deliberately target education because disruption creates pressure to pay quickly”
The Higham Lane School Case Study
What Happened:
Monday, January 5, 2026: Headteacher Michael Gannon notified parents that a cyberattack had forced the school to close. All staff and students were told not to log into school systems.
The Damage: Email, phone lines, and central management system were down. Teachers couldn't access class records, and students couldn't reach learning materials.
The Response: External cybersecurity experts and the Department for Education's Cyber Incident Response Team were immediately engaged.
The Impact: Year 11 and 13 students preparing for GCSE and A-Level exams faced significant disruption.
The Recovery: A phased return began January 12, as systems were confirmed secure.
“Attack timing is strategic, criminals choose moments when schools can least afford downtime”
Are exam-year students given special protection in your school’s cyber incident planning?
What Caused the Higham Lane School Shutdown?
The school did not publicly reveal how the attacker gained access, but cybersecurity research shows that phishing is the number-one way schools become infected with ransomware. In fact, phishing is responsible for approximately 22% of all ransomware attacks on schools.
Here is how a phishing attack likely worked at Higham Lane:
1. The Malicious Email: A staff member received an email appearing to come from a trusted source (headteacher, Department for Education, software vendor, or parent). It looked legitimate, possibly with a slightly modified email address.
2. The Click: A busy staff member clicked a link or downloaded an attachment, not suspecting foul play.
3. The Infection: The link or attachment installed malicious software on their device, giving the attacker remote access to the school's network.
4. The Spread: The attacker explored the network, found critical systems, and deployed ransomware that encrypted email servers, file servers, student records systems, and telephone systems.
5. The Shutdown: With all critical systems encrypted, the school could not function and had to close.
This entire process can happen in hours or minutes.
Why Phishing Works at Schools:
Limited IT staff spread thin across multiple responsibilities
High-trust environments where staff are taught to be helpful
Multiple vendors and services (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, educational software) create impersonation opportunities
Staff under pressure may click links without thinking
Other Possible Entry Points:
Unpatched software vulnerabilities
Weak passwords that attackers can guess
Misconfigured remote access tools
Infected personal devices brought into the school network
Example: A single clicked attachment disguised as a timetable update allowed ransomware to spread across a multi-school trust in under two hours.
Did you know? Phishing accounts for over 90% of successful school ransomware entry points according to education-focused threat reports.
Why Are Schools Targeted?
Schools Hold Valuable Data: Personal information about students, staff, and families (names, addresses, health records, emergency contacts) is valuable to criminals who sell it on the dark web or use it for identity theft.
Limited IT Budgets: Schools dedicate only 2% of their overall budget to IT, and just 1–2% of IT budgets go to cybersecurity. This results in outdated systems with known vulnerabilities.
Heavy Reliance on Digital Systems: Modern schools cannot function without technology. When systems go down, schools must close, giving attackers leverage to demand ransom payments.
Limited Security Expertise: Most schools have one or two IT staff without specialized cybersecurity training, making threats easier to execute and harder to detect.
Schools Tend to Pay Ransoms: Research shows nearly 47% of schools attacked by ransomware pay the ransom, the highest payment rate of any sector, encouraging more attacks.
Is your school’s cybersecurity budget aligned with the value of the data you protect?
How to Prevent School Cyberattacks
1. Train Staff on Cybersecurity Awareness
Phishing Recognition: Teach staff to spot red flags, unexpected password requests, poor grammar, urgent language, and suspicious sender addresses.
Password Security: Use long passwords (12+ characters) with mixed case, numbers, and symbols. Never reuse passwords or write them down.
Safe Reporting: Make it easy for anyone to report suspicious activity to IT without fear of consequences.
Regular Training: Conduct cybersecurity training at least annually, ideally quarterly.
2. Implement Technical Safeguards
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Require two forms of identification (password + code sent to phone) to access accounts.
Regular Software Updates: Patch all operating systems, applications, and devices on a regular schedule. Enable automatic updates where possible.
Antivirus Software: Install and maintain reputable antivirus software on all devices.
Firewalls: Use robust firewalls to monitor and control network traffic.
3. Control Access to Sensitive Data
Least Privilege Access: Give staff and students access only to systems and data they need for their role.
Disable Old Accounts: Remove accounts for staff who have left, many breaches occur through forgotten accounts.
4. Create a Strong Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan
Automated Daily Backups: Back up all critical data automatically, at least daily.
Offsite Storage: Store backups away from the main network (secure cloud storage or separate location). Ransomware can encrypt backups connected to the main network.
Test Regularly: Simulate ransomware attacks and practice restoring data to ensure backups work and recovery time is acceptable.
5. Segment Your Network
Isolate Critical Systems: Separate student record systems from general-use networks. If one system is compromised, attackers cannot immediately access others.
Guest Networks: Provide limited networks for visitors and personal devices, don't allow guest network access to sensitive systems.
Example: A primary academy trust reduced phishing success by 75% within six months after introducing MFA and regular staff training.
“Prevention isn’t about one tool, it’s about layering controls so one failure doesn’t become a catastrophe”
Step-by-Step: How to Respond to a School Cyberattack
Preparation: Create an incident response plan before an attack happens. Establish a team with clear roles, designate a leader, and have external expert contact information ready.
Identification: When a problem occurs, quickly determine if it's actually a cyberattack (slow systems, error messages, files disappearing, failed logins).
Containment: Disconnect affected computers from the main network. Issue a "do not log in" directive to prevent malware spread. Preserve evidence.
Eradication: Bring in external cybersecurity experts to identify the malware, remove it, and patch vulnerabilities.
Recovery: Test systems thoroughly before reconnecting them. Restore data from clean backups. Bring systems online gradually. Monitor closely for hidden attacker access. Don't rush, wait for expert confirmation it's safe.
Lessons Learned: Review what happened, identify security gaps, update your incident response plan, train staff on exploited vulnerabilities, and implement improvements.
Would your staff know exactly what to do in the first 15 minutes of a cyber incident?
Create and rehearse a school cyber incident response plan before an attack happens.
Legal Requirements
GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018: Report data breaches to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) within 72 hours.
Notification: Notify affected individuals (students and parents) if personal data is compromised.
Documentation: Keep detailed records of the incident and response for regulatory review.
Cyber Insurance: Consider cyber insurance to cover incident response, data recovery, and liability costs.
“Documentation is as important as recovery, regulators assess how responsibly schools respond”
Review your GDPR data breach notification process and assign clear ownership.
FAQs
What happened during the Higham Lane School cyberattack?
The Higham Lane School cyberattack was a UK school cyber attack that led to a school closure cyberattack after a school ransomware attack disabled critical IT systems in Nuneaton.
How can schools improve school cybersecurity to stop attacks?
Strong school cybersecurity depends on school cybersecurity best practices such as phishing attacks school prevention, multi-factor authentication schools, and robust school email security.
What should be included in a cyber incident response plan school strategy?
A cyber incident response plan school should outline incident response school procedures, school breach response, system isolation, and school IT recovery steps.
Are schools legally required to report a school data breach?
Yes, under UK law a GDPR data breach notification must be submitted within 72 hours following a school IT system breach, along with a cyber breach school notification to affected families.
How do schools recover after a school ransomware attack?
Ransomware school recovery involves a tested school backup strategy, school IT disaster recovery planning, and secure network segmentation school controls.
How can schools reduce the long-term impact of cyber threats?
Schools can reduce risk by investing in school IT security, school cybersecurity software, cyber insurance schools, and aligning with DfE cyber standards schools.
What’s Next?
By adopting advanced behavioral monitoring alongside technical safeguards like multi-factor authentication and network segmentation, schools can identify threats instantly and stop them before systems are encrypted. Cybersecurity is not about perfect protection; it's about detecting attackers faster than they can spread.
Want to learn more? Visit our website to discover how behavioral algorithms can strengthen your cybersecurity defenses and help your organization stay ahead of emerging threats.
References
Daley Signal. (2026). Cyberattack forces British high school in Nuneaton to close after IT systems disabled. Retrieved from https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/01/05/cyberattack-forces-british-high-school-to-close/
UK Department for Education. (2025). Cyber security standards for schools and colleges. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cyber-security-standards-for-schools-and-colleges
National Cyber Security Centre. (2025). Mitigating malware and ransomware attacks in education. Retrieved from https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/mitigating-malware-and-ransomware-attacks
Information Commissioner’s Office. (2024). Guide to the UK GDPR – personal data breaches. Retrieved from https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/personal-data-breaches/
Sophos. (2025). The state of ransomware in education 2025. Retrieved from https://www.sophos.com/en-us/content/state-of-ransomware-education
Coveware. (2024). Ransomware trends in the education sector. Retrieved from https://www.coveware.com/blog/ransomware-education-sector
