According to recent government data, 73% of UK secondary schools and 49% of primary schools reported experiencing a cyber security breach or attack in the past twelve months¹. Educational institutions remain highly targeted, with phishing attempts involved in 89% of secondary school incidents.² 

With cloud services now central to how schools operate, protecting the data they contain has never been more important. Yet many schools remain exposed because key areas of backup and recovery sit outside the cloud provider’s responsibility. 

The Shared Responsibility Gap  

It is a common misconception that cloud platforms are inherently fully backed up and secure. In reality, cloud providers manage infrastructure uptime, but ultimate accountability remains with the school. Native environments do not fully protect configuration data, policies, or user assignments from accidental or malicious deletion.  

It’s a challenge we hear about regularly from school IT teams. If your team is balancing strict budget pressures and resource constraints, this shared responsibility gap creates a significant risk.  

What Happens When Risks Aren’t Addressed   

When security risks are not addressed, the impact is immediate and damaging to the learning environment: 

• Teaching Disruption: A lost mailbox or deleted files can lead to missing curriculum resources and costly downtime.  

• Data Exposure: Identity systems are prime targets for malicious actors. A compromised account can lead to unauthorised access to student information and financial records.  

Get Round-The-Clock Security with XMA and Barracuda 

XMA provides integrated email security and backup solutions tailored specifically for the education sector. Partnering with Barracuda, XMA delivers the end-to-end technical expertise required to support your deployment and manage your operational risk.  

Barracuda utilises cloud-native backup engines and AI-powered threat detection to block sophisticated attacks before they reach user inboxes, ensuring fast, reliable recovery if data is ever lost.  

To help your IT team build complete cyber resilience this term, download our brand-new guide that details Five Steps to Reducing Cloud Workspace Risk This Academic Year.