NCERT released Cyber Safety and Security Guidelines for School, now students and teachers will be safe in the digital world
Education Desk – Strengthening the Digital India campaign, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has released new Cyber Safety and Security Guidelines for School. The aim of these guidelines is to make students, teachers, school managers and technical staff safe in the digital world and to make the learning process through ICT (Information and Communication Technology) safe, responsible and effective.
What is cyber security and its need?
Cybersecurity is not just about protecting systems from viruses or hacking, it also encompasses online behaviour, respect for others, and the rules of using the internet correctly. As the scope of the Internet and information technology continues to expand in schools, it has become increasingly important for school administrators and staff to maintain the security of systems and networks.
Today almost every system is connected to the Internet and the possibility of an attack on it is constantly increasing.In such a situation, it is the responsibility of schools to keep their systems, networks and data safe and at the same time make their students and staff aware of it.
First priority: Identify threats and assess risk
The first step of NCERT’s Cyber Safety and Security Guidelines tells how to identify potential threats in the system. If the computer is working slow, the screen is disappearing frequently, strange popups or error messages are coming, the battery is draining quickly or a problem like ‘Blue Screen of Death’ is appearing, then these are signs that there is a threat looming over the system.
Apart from this, unwanted toolbars, new strange icons on the desktop, sending strange email messages to friends, unknown programs appearing in the Task Manager – all these are symptoms of a potential cyber attack, which need to be identified and investigated immediately.
Second phase: Developing security and detection measures
The second phase of the Cyber Safety and Security Guidelines outlines the steps to be taken to strengthen security. First, a strong firewall should be installed. Students and teachers should be taught to create strong passwords, and the password policy should allow for periodic changes and prevent the reuse of old passwords.
The school should only use legitimate and licensed software and ensure that only authorized personnel have access to the computer lab or system. Additionally, the connection of personal devices such as USBs or hard drives to the network should be discouraged.
All systems and software should be set to automatic update and antivirus software should be updated regularly.Files with extensions like .bat, .cmd, .exe should be blocked. VPN and SSL encryption tools can be used to secure remote access.
Third-party vendors should be security-checked and used only when they are trustworthy. The network password should always be changed from the default and content filtering options like restricted mode or safesearch should be implemented.
Third stage: Protection of sensitive data
The third directive from NCERT clarifies how schools should secure sensitive information of their students and staff. Under this, schools should formulate an information security and access control policy, which clearly specifies which information will be stored where, who will have access to it, and where its backup will be kept.
No important information should be stored in the system’s C Drive, and important data like mobile numbers or Aadhaar numbers should be backed up in a secure location. Additionally, there should be a system for reporting that keeps the identity of the reporting individual secure.
Fourth phase: Response and recovery from cyber incidents
If a cyber attack occurs in a school, NCERT has provided four important guidelines in the fourth phase for its response and recovery. First, an initial investigation of the incident should be conducted — it should be determined how the attack occurred, which systems were affected, how much data was lost, and whether the threat still persists.
After that, the system and data should be cleaned and restored as soon as possible. Then a thorough investigation of this incident should be conducted, and if necessary, external experts should be consulted to prevent it from happening again.Ultimately, technical and policy shortcomings should be addressed to eliminate the possibility of recurrence.
Step 5: Educating the stakeholders
In the last phase of the guideline, it has been emphasized that schools should make all their stakeholders – such as teachers, students, parents, school administration – aware of cyber security. Here are the do’s and don’ts of cyber security. The school administration should be informed about the tools that can be used to monitor the websites visited by the students.Information on cyber laws, such as through cyberlawsindia.net.
Cybersecurity experts should be called to school and courses, activities and lessons should be created for students that promote the safe, lawful and ethical use of digital information. In addition, it has been recommended to promote responsible behaviour on social media, celebrate cyber security week and partner with a reputed cyber security organisation.
These cyber security guidelines issued by NCERT are the need of the hour for schools in India.When students and teachers are moving fast in the digital world, it has become extremely necessary to secure their data, network and digital behavior. These guidelines will not only strengthen technical security but also make the entire education system digitally responsible.
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