Parents’ cash stolen as most schools hacked

MORE than three quarters of schools suffered a cyberattack last year and for the first time parents lost money as a result, GCHQ has said.

Figures show 78 per cent of schools experienced at least one cyber-attack, with one in 14 suffering “significant disruption” taking up to three months to recover.

Attacks included gangs targeting staff with emails to steal data or install malware, in the study of more than 800 schools by GCHQ’S national cyber security centre.

Seven of the 805 schools said parents had suffered financially after hackers stole their ID details. Private schools with wealthier feepaying parents were particularly vulnerable.

Confidential documents from 14 schools including children’s SEN information and child passport scans were leaked online.