MANAGING ICT Keeping ICT kit safe


How can your school protect against ICT theft? Mark


Exley offers some advice


(BeSA) shows that the average secondary school has around 86 laptops, a number it expects to increase this academic year. Unfortunately, such a large number of expensive


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resources make schools very attractive to thieves. Often large, open-plan and accessible, secondary schools are prime targets for both organised and opportunist theft. Netbooks, laptops, iPads and iPodtouches are small and light, so they can be easily concealed and removed from a building if the effective security measures are not in place. this is a fact that Misbourne School in


Buckinghamshire knows only too well. the arts and technology college in the village of Great Missenden had 14 of its laptops and a projector stolen earlier this March when burglars forced their way through four of the building’s doors. Incidents like this do not just cause inconvenience for


students, who may be left without computer equipment. Laptop theft can result in increased insurance premiums if your school has to claim for its loss, and, more worryingly, there could be serious consequences if data concerning vulnerable pupils falls into the wrong hands.


having ICt equipment stolen can be both costly and edusurv


potentially dangerous, but your school can take simple steps to reduce the risk of theft. More comprehensive forms of security will, undoubtedly, result in financial investment, but there are many theft-deterrents that involve more common sense than cash. So, exactly how can you protect your school’s valuable ICt?


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the good news is that there are ways that you can make your school less vulnerable to theft without spending too much cash. A sensible place to start is by making sure that your


school’s existing security procedures include guidelines for how your ICt should be physically protected. this “rule book” should cover both how equipment is used and stored within the school building, and the directions staff and pupils should follow if they need to take laptops home with them. Once the guide has been written, you should


organise some training for your colleagues. teachers can then pass on the relevant information to their classes. Guidelines are only as good as those who follow them, so make sure everyone at your school knows what they need to do to protect their assets and acts accordingly. So, what should you include in your ICt security plan? As with any type of expensive resource, you need to


avoid accidentally advertising desirable ICt equipment to thieves. Staff and pupils should never leave laptops and tablets unattended, and you and your colleagues should take care not to give out details of how many computers your school has on site. this means, for example, refraining from talking


about ICt assets on the school website and social networking sites and not telling the local press if you have purchased a lot of new equipment. Just as portable ICt devices should not be left alone,


make sure that visitors are accompanied when they walk around your building. ensure that all guests sign in and out, and ask any external It technician to present ID before they are taken to service computers, or other valuable resources. registration can also be used when visitors or


pupils ask to use ICt equipment. If laptops are issued by teachers or administrators, you could use a deposit scheme to ensure each laptop is returned, or use a register to tick off names when laptops are taken and given back. It is also a good idea to log the serial number of each of your laptops, as this may make it easier for the police to identify and recover a machine in the event that it is stolen.


Strategies requiring financial investment


Although some deterrents can be implemented for little or no cost, schools can also invest in physical restraints


to make their security measures more affective, and their ICt resources less at risk of theft. Using physical security is important for when


equipment needs to be stored overnight or the during the school holidays, when staff are often not on site. Laptops and tablets are best protected in a secured lockable cabinet that can be bolted to the wall or floor. Ideally, the cabinet should be constructed of reinforced steel, not wood or plastic, and be designed to resist crowbars, cutting equipment and lock-pickers. If you are going to store your laptops in a mobile charging trolley, pick one with a motion sensor alarm and make sure you lock away your keys overnight. Lockable cabinets are a good way to prevent theft,


but some schools may need additional restraints to keep their laptops safe. When schools are located in areas with a high crime rate, or when pupils are working in open-plan areas, security cables and systems that lock laptops to desks can prevent equipment from being taken while it is in use. It is also a good idea to lock down your desktop computers and projectors because, although these are more difficult to move, a committed thief will have a go. Unfortunately, for some schools, protecting ICt


equipment from outside thieves is not their only problem. Although it is upsetting, you need to consider the fact that if a student removes a laptop from a classroom, either to take home or work on in another building, they may not necessarily bring it back. In busy classrooms, it can sometimes be difficult


to keep track of which pupil has taken which piece of equipment, especially if students are taking the laptops from a storage cabinet themselves. to make this process easier, you could invest in a cabinet that students can access with their smartcards – perhaps those that they use to take books from the library or to buy lunch with. these cards can link to your school’s database, enabling teachers to monitor which laptop has been taken and identify its whereabouts if stolen. As well as acting as a deterrent, this could also help you spot if a particular student has damaged a laptop. ICt equipment, from laptops to overhead projectors,


can make a significant impact to learning, but schools can risk losing these valuable resources by not taking adequate steps to secure them. Not only do stolen laptops and computers cause inconvenience and higher insurance premiums, but pupil safety can be compromised if school data falls into the unscrupulous hands of thieves. there are numerous ways that you can protect your


school’s ICt, with some measures costing very little. Perhaps it is time that you considered just how secure is your school’s ICt?


SecEd


• Mark Exley is general manager for product development at LapSafe Products.


ver the last decade, schools have invested heavily in ICt to help deliver the curriculum in exciting, engaging and flexible ways. the latest ICT Provision and Use report by the British educational Suppliers Association


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