ICT Solutions News Desk

Recently, we have seen successful phishing attacks at a number Norfolk schools and we would like to remind you to remain vigilant over the Christmas holiday period. Cyber security is frequently in the news and there have been a number of high-profile ones in recent months impacting large companies and councils in London.

Phishing is when attackers attempt to trick users into doing 'the wrong thing', such as clicking a bad link that will download malware or direct them to a suspicious website. Attacks can install ransomware, sabotage systems, or steal intellectual property and money.

It can be conducted via a text message, social media, or by phone, but the term 'phishing' is mainly used to describe attacks that arrive by email. These types of emails can reach millions of users directly and hide amongst the huge number of emails that busy users receive. 

If something doesn’t feel right, it’s usually because it isn’t. Please think before you click!

To reflect the reduced demand on the Service Desk over the Christmas holiday period, we will be changing the opening hours to reflect this.

Our opening hours will be as follows:

December 24th - 08:00 to 12:00

December 25th to January 1st 2025 - Closed

Normal opening hours of 08:00 to 16:30 will resume on Friday, January 2nd 2026.

We would like to wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and a healthy/prosperous New Year!

For more information, please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

We would like to ask schools to refrain from turning off the power to the core networking equipment over the forthcoming Christmas holiday period. Core networking equipment includes routers, switches and servers, often in a wall or floor cabinet. These devices are monitored by ourselves, Rydal and Schools Broadband and turning off the power results in false alarms. This could potentially result in you incurring a charge for an engineer visit.

If there is no alternative to powering off the communications cabinet and core equipment, because of planned work, for example, please advise us in advance.

For more information, please contact the Service Desk on 01603 475603 or ict@norfolk.gov.uk

Are you prepared for the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) switch off?

If you haven’t started planning, you might want to think about your telephony service, in preparation for the PSTN switch off in 2027.

As a reminder, we have a telephony framework available for Schools/Academies to purchase from to give you confidence in upgrading your telephone system.

Each supplier will have had due diligence carried out on them and met certain standards for technical, financial, health and safety and pricing. 

If you would like to learn more, please visit the Telephony framework webpage or contact us on 01603 475603.

Police Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) are running a series of free to attend education sector webinars for School Leaders, Governors, School staff and Parents. Details and more information are below: 

1) Cyber Security and introduction to Cyber Choices session for UK Education Staff

This is a 1 hour webinar repeated six times until Jan 2026, this session would be useful for anyone working with / in schools or with young people who have not seen one of the cyber inputs previously or want a refresh.

The session will:

• Highlight current trends and provide actionable steps that attendees can take.
• Highlight nationally approved resources like those created for the education sector by the National Cyber Security Centre.
• Introduce the National Crime Agency's Cyber Choices Programme.
• Highlight free local and national Police resources that can support the school further in this area.

This event is free, and tickets can be book directly via:

2) Cyber Security Awareness Session for UK School Governors / Senior Leaders

This is a 2 hour webinar focusing on highlighting the need for cyber resilience in schools it is aimed at school’s governors/leaders and will be repeated six times until Jan 2026. This has had significant changes from our previous offering, and we would suggest that attendees attend the one-hour staff awareness session prior to this.

The session will:

• Highlight cyber security threats that the education sector face
• Raise awareness of the schools' duties around cyber security
• Inform the attendees around the questions to ask to ensure schools are fulfilling their duties.
• Highlight free local and national Police resources that can support the school further in this area.

The event is free, and tickets can be book directly via: