Security of School Websites at risk: what actions can school boards take?

IT personnel across educational institutions are increasingly confronted with challenging security requirements for networks and systems. With the rise in cyber threats, security is, understandably, a top priority. Additionally, there is a demand from the board for a consistent policy regarding data processing. Despite this, schools within umbrella organizations are often left to make their own decisions regarding their choice of a website. Is this autonomy conducive to the organization's security?

Maintaining Control

The more schools within a board have the freedom to choose their website provider, the more challenging it becomes for the organization to oversee the security of these websites. As an IT professional overseeing multiple schools, you lack visibility into agreements with providers regarding security certifications, cookie tracking, and data processing, unless these aspects are meticulously documented and periodically reviewed.

This, however, is a time-consuming task, and as a result, more educational boards are seeing the benefits of procuring websites for their schools from a single, trustworthy provider. This approach generally offers not only security benefits but also contributes to the uniform quality and appearance of the websites across the school group. Many umbrella organizations are still adjusting to the idea of centrally procuring school websites because they value giving schools freedom and fear that a uniform approach means schools will lose their uniqueness on the website.

Autonomy and freedom for individual Schools

At Plate, we recognize the concerns of school boards and have developed a solution for the central management of school websites that still offers individual schools the autonomy and creative freedom to tailor the website and content to their preferences. This means you have control over fonts, colors, block positions, and other website components.

It is even possible to change themes between different websites. Of course, we work together with the board to ensure the uniform appearance of the umbrella organization is maintained.

Visit our special page for school groups to learn everything about the benefits of our multisite approach for schools. For more information or to see a demo of our solution, send a message to Johannes (johannes@getplate.com), or schedule a demo directly at getplate.com/nl/demo.

How is Your Organization's Security Posture?

Organizations such as the Internet Cleanup Foundation and Internet.nl, supported by the government, are committed to a safer internet and expose vulnerabilities within organizations, including those in primary and secondary education. Internet Cleanup Foundation, with its website Basisbeveiliging.nl, maps out where the security risks lie for educational organizations and shows how well or poorly your organization scores on hundreds of points, including website security. Check the results for your organization now.

Update - May 27, 2024

The Internet Cleaunup Foundation recently updated and expanded its maps to include a map for Elementary Education. The map is easily accessible at the link below:

https://basisbeveiliging.nl/map/NL/education_primary_education