Explore
The Explore pathway is for everyone working in health and social care, irrespective of role. This pathway introduces the fundamental concepts of cyber security.
The Explore Pathway
Step 1 - Introducing Cyber Security
| Watch |
Let's start by exploring what cyber security is. Although developed for councils, this short video (2m57s) provides a general overview of cyber security, explains some of the key cyber terms you might hear and looks at why cyber is so important in organisations: Link: What is cyber security? |
| Question |
| Why do you think it's important for health and social care staff to learn about cyber security? |
Step 2 - Common Cyber Attacks
| Questions |
|
| Watch |
In order to protect ourselves against cyber threats, it's important to understand how and when attacks might occur. This short video (4m9s) runs through some of the common types of cyber attack: |
| Questions |
|
Step 3 - Staying Safe Online
| Question |
| What do you currently do to stay safe online? Think about this from both a personal and professional perspective. |
| Read |
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is a UK government organisation responsible for providing advice, guidance and support to protect the UK’s critical systems from cyber threats. Have a look at their list of six top tips for staying safe online: |
| Task |
| Choose one of the six tips and click on it to find out how you can practically implement the advice. Follow the guidance provided to start protecting yourself online. |
| Task |
| At the bottom of the webpage you'll find a PDF poster available to download which lists the top tips. Consider how you can use the poster to share the NCSC's advice with your colleagues. |
Step 4 - Creating Strong Passwords
| Read |
Creating strong passwords can be an effective way of protecting yourself against hacking threats from cyber criminals. But what is a strong password? And where might there be weaknesses in the passwords you are currently using? Have a look at this guidance from the NCSC which takes you through how to use passwords effectively to protect your data: |
| Task |
Review the following recommendations from the guidance and take action to follow any that are relevant to you:
|
Step 5 - Cyber Attack Impact
| Read |
Unfortunately, despite preventative measures, cyber attacks do still occur. Whilst they have a serious and significant impact, they also help us to learn how to avoid similar attacks in future. This BBC article describes a cyber attack on NHS Dumfries and Galloway that took place in March 2024: Link: Hackers threaten to publish huge cache of NHS Scotland data |
| Questions |
How do you think the patients whose data was leaked might have been impacted by this? What could this mean for how they interact with health and social care services going forwards? Consider how a similar attack could impact your own organisation or service. |
Step 6 - Test Your Cyber Knowledge (NEW)
| Task |
Now you have developed your awareness of cyber security, test your knowledge by completing this short quiz. Once you have worked through the questions, you can submit and then review your answers to look into any that were incorrect: |
| Quiz |
Work through this short quiz where you’ll be asked to determine whether email messages are genuine or attempts at phishing. Be sure to note down any advice and tips as you work through the questions: Link: Jigsaw | Phishing Quiz |
What Next?
You have now completed the Explore pathway.
Pathway Update Notifications
You can access this Pathways Update Notifications Form to register to receive email notifications when pathway content is updated or new resources are added.
Feedback
To share any comments or questions you have about the pathway, please use this Feedback Form. You can also let us know if any of the links aren’t working, or the resources aren’t available.
