Students Behind Most School Insider Attacks

Over half of all insider cyber attacks in UK schools are now being carried out by students, according to new findings from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Alert

A new alert issued by the UK’s data protection regulator has highlighted a “worrying trend” in school cyber breaches, with children as young as seven found to be responsible for serious personal data breaches. The ICO’s analysis of 215 insider cyber incidents reported by education settings between January 2022 and August 2024 found that 57 per cent were caused by students, often exploiting weak security practices and misconfigured systems to gain access.