Breaches Happen

How will you deal with one?

Breaches come in many shapes, sizes, and severities. It’s critical to recognise that an integrity breach with a single inaccurate word can be as serious as a classic confidentiality breach.

Part of your training, for all staff, needs to be about how to recognise that a data breach has happened. For schools, breaches often involve misplaced papers and devices, or emails sent to the wrong person. Of the breaches reported by schools, hacking is the basis of only a small proportion of the total.

Staff should know to look for

  • Information being put in the hands of the wrong people
  • Paperwork or devices being lost or stolen
  • Significant errors in information – including being out of date
  • Issues with email both recipients and content

Handling a breach effectively is practical, preventing breaches is nearly impossible