NEWS
More than one in four UK school websites lack key browser security controls
More than one in four UK primary and secondary school websites lack all seven browser-side security measures assessed in new research highlighting potential gaps in the education sector’ s web security.
Comparitech analysed 25,454 school websites, comprising 20,450 primary and 5,004 secondary and private school sites, to examine their implementation of common controls designed to mitigate threats including cross-site scripting, clickjacking, information leakage and insecure connections.
Only 52 websites – 0.2 % of those analysed – had implemented all seven measures, while 7,001, or 27.5 %, had none.
Primary schools performed better than secondary schools across every control assessed, implementing an average of 2.9 measures compared with 2.6 among secondary schools.
Rebecca Moody, Head of Data Research at Comparitech, said:“ This latest research highlights an alarming gap in browser security within UK schools. This is particularly concerning because school websites not only house sensitive student and staff data but will often be trusted by students, staff and parents. If they lack key browser security controls, this leaves them( and their users) vulnerable to data breaches, phishing campaigns, and cyber attacks.
“ Schools remain a key focus for hackers. So far this year, 11 UK primary and secondary schools have been targeted by ransomware groups alone. While it’ s not clear how the ransomware groups gained access to the schools’ systems in these cases, our findings show that over 40 % of them had three or fewer critical browser security controls in place.”
Ensono research finds AI prompts IT leaders to rethink value of legacy systems
More than three-quarters of IT decision-makers believe legacy systems are more important to their organisations than two years ago as Artificial Intelligence changes approaches to IT modernisation, according to Ensono research. The company’ s second annual State of IT Modernization Report surveyed IT leaders in the UK and US, with 78 % saying the importance of legacy environments has increased.
Organisations also continue to encounter difficulties generating returns from AI, with workflow integration cited by 33 %, infrastructure limitations by 28 % and governance concerns by 25 %.
Rather than replacing older technology outright, 52 % are optimising existing systems and modernising applications in place. The approach is more common among UK organisations, at 57 %, compared with 48 % in the US.
AI is also accelerating modernisation, according to 54 % of respondents, up from 39 % in 2025.
However, cost and skills remain significant obstacles. Some 97 % said talent shortages had increased modernisation costs to some degree, while 71 % of initiatives had exceeded their planned budgets. The figure was higher in the UK, where 77 % of organisations reported exceeding budgets compared with 66 % in the US.
Overall, 61 % of organisations had paused, delayed, scaled back or abandoned IT modernisation initiatives during the previous 24 months.
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