IT admin’s guide to student digital safety

Digital tools in educational settings have transformed the landscape of learning, opening up unprecedented opportunities for collaboration and access to information.

However, with these opportunities also come new risks. Bad actors and cybercriminals are just the start. Students also need to learn how to properly navigate and conduct themselves online.

In fact, the majority of teachers, administrators, and guardians have concerns that students have access to harmful or inappropriate content through these tools. And recently, schools have seen some unsettling trends when it comes to online threats and violence among students.

That’s why administrators are shifting their attention toward finding and implementing strategies to ensure online safety. In this article, we’ll dive into the complexities of student internet safety and introduce effective strategies that can fortify your school’s digital defenses.

Key Takeaways

It’s vital for school administrators to recognize and address various online threats like cyberbullying, hacking, and online predation to keep students safe.Schools should combine strong cybersecurity measures with digital citizenship education to keep students safe online.Effective digital safety requires collaboration. Schools need to ensure open lines of communication and involve everyone—students, teachers, and guardians—in building a secure online environment.

Understanding the risks

To safeguard the well-being of students in digital environments, it’s crucial to understand and address the prevalent cyber safety risks they face.

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying, or the harassment, humiliation, or threats of peers through online communication, is a serious threat that the majority of students are exposed to.

The number of students reporting cyberbullying has increased by 55% since 2015—and this trend is only growing, particularly among teens and young adults. Exposure to this type of behavior can lead to severe distress and affect students’ academic performance and emotional well-being.

Account Takeovers

Account takeovers aren’t just a threat to faculty and staff—students are also frequent targets of unauthorized access attempts, with nearly 1 in 50 children experiencing some type of identity theft.

Cybercriminals often exploit security weaknesses, such as weak passwords and account sharing, to gain a foothold. Once they’ve taken over an account, these bad actors can use it to perpetrate further attacks and/or misuse these accounts for financial or identity theft.

Online Predation

As schools rapidly shifted to remote learning during the pandemic, incidents of online predation doubled. Predators exploited the increased use of internet access to manipulate and groom minors, often concealing their identities to solicit inappropriate interactions or exploit vulnerable students.

Studies have shown that one in nine children and adolescents have experienced unwanted interactions or solicitations from sexual predators or offenders.

Ransomware

Ransomware (a type of malware that encrypts a victim’s files and demands a ransom for their release) attacks continue to be a significant and growing threat in the educational space.

In 2022, 80% of school IT professionals reported that their schools were hit with these types of attacks. These types of attacks disrupt the educational process, resulting in significant downtime and data loss.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks have become alarmingly prevalent in educational settings, with reports indicating a staggering 576% increase in recent years. These sophisticated attacks frequently arrive in the form of seemingly legitimate emails or messages, cleverly designed to steal personal information.

Students are especially vulnerable at the beginning of the academic year as they are eager for new opportunities and exploring their new digital spaces. 

How to improve digital safety for students

Ensuring online safety in schools requires a comprehensive approach that involves both technical and educational strategies. Below are key actions schools can take to improve cyber safety for their students.

1. Robust cybersecurity measures

While there’s no one-size-fits-all to cybersecurity, there are some foundational measures schools can implement to effectively secure the digital environment for students:

• Secure Identities and Access: With so many end users, it’s vital to control who can access school systems and data. This can be achieved by: Implementing strong authentication methods, like Single Sign-On (SSO), strong passphrases, and multi-factor authentication (Classroom MFA). Additionally, you should regularly update access privileges and deactivate unused accounts.
• Protect Devices: No matter what devices your school employs, each one should be protected. Do this with regular updates, applying the latest endpoint protection, and implementing strong login security. 
• Proactively Manage Vendors: School districts leverage various kinds of technology to enhance student learning. That’s why it’s important to rigorously assess and manage third-party vendors who have access to student data to ensure they meet security standards.
• Plan for Recovery: While no one wants to experience a cyber attack, it’s essential to establish a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that enables your school to quickly restore data and maintain continuity in the event of a cyber incident.
• Cultivate a Security Culture: To sustain long-term defense against cyber threats, school admins should educate and regularly assess every member of their community about cybersecurity best practices.

2. Digital citizenship education

As schools incorporate more edtech into educational settings, it’s important to teach students how to navigate the online world safely, responsibly, and ethically. That’s where digital citizenship curriculum comes into play. It equips students with the necessary skills and knowledge to:

• Conduct Themselves Responsibly Online: This includes educating students on how to protect their personally identifiable information, recognize online risks like cyberbullying and phishing, manage their digital footprint, and practice etiquette—ensuring respectful and considerate interactions across digital platforms.
• Sharpen Their Critical Thinking Skills: This helps students effectively evaluate the reliability of sources, analyze content for accuracy and bias, and recognize online manipulations and misinformation. 
• Develop Empathy and Respect: This aspect focuses on fostering a deep understanding of the impact of one’s actions online, promoting inclusivity, appreciating diverse perspectives, and actively opposing cyberbullying and online harassment. By cultivating these values, students learn how to build positive and respectful digital communities.

3. Open communication and reporting systems

Promoting internet safety in schools hinges on clear and trusted reporting channels that empower students to report concerns without fear and enable IT administrators to respond effectively.

To encourage students to report online risks such as harmful content, harassment, and exposure to inappropriate content, schools need to establish accessible, confidential, and supportive reporting systems. These channels should be:

• Easily accessible to ensure that students can report issues from any device.
• Confidential to make students feel secure when reporting.
• Clearly guided on what types of incidents should be reported and how to report them.
• Supportive with immediate access to counseling and support resources.

Once the reports have been received, IT administrators should work quickly to classify incidents based on severity and urgency. Then, each incident should be thoroughly investigated, documented, and recorded so that they can take appropriate action. 

After initial actions are taken, administrators maintain ongoing communication with the affected students. This follow-up is essential to ensure their continued safety and well-being and to keep them informed about what steps have been taken in response to their report.

Having a centralized and organized reporting system is key to efficiently investigating incidents, identifying patterns or recurring issues, and implementing targeted solutions or security measures to prevent future occurrences.

4. Collaborating with parents

Encouraging parents to become active participants in their children’s cyber safety education is crucial for a comprehensive digital safety strategy. Regular workshops and resources can inform parents about common online risks students face. 

By being aware of these issues, parents are better equipped to spot problems and can have meaningful discussions with their children about making smart decisions and staying safe online. Schools can also support parents by sharing practical tips for promoting good digital habits at home.

How can Clever support student digital safety efforts

At Clever, we understand that each school faces unique challenges in cybersecurity, which is why we are committed to providing comprehensive solutions and robust security practices for every school. 

We take a layered approach to cybersecurity, offering school districts multiple levels of protection in one place. Our suite of tools was designed specifically for K-12 education to ensure that access to technology is both secure and straightforward. Here are just a few tools that help keep students safe: 

• Clever Portal: Provides SSO access to all educational applications, making it easier to manage and monitor student activities without the hassle of managing multiple passwords. This not only streamlines access but also significantly reduces the risk of password-related breaches.
• Secure Sync Rostering: Automatically syncs student data across various platforms, ensuring that all information is up-to-date and secure. This eliminates the need for manual entry, reducing the potential for human error and enhancing data privacy and integrity.
• Clever Messaging: Allows secure communication between teachers, students, and parents. This feature ensures that all communications are safeguarded and that there’s an audit trail for accountability.
• Multi-factor Authentication and Identity Management (IDM): These add-on security products, uniquely designed for schools, provide an additional layer of security, safeguarding against unauthorized access and enhancing the overall security posture of the school’s digital environment.

We also guide schools in establishing foundational cybersecurity measures through our Clever Cybersecurity Blueprint. This resource outlines foundational cybersecurity strategies every school can adopt.

To learn more about how Clever can help secure your school’s digital environment or to discuss specific security needs, book a call with a Clever cybersecurity specialist today. 

Or, if you’re ready to get started, sign up for Clever and transform the way your school approaches digital learning and safety.