Improving Cyber Security Awareness at Manchester Metropolitan University
Learn how Manchester Metropolitan University strengthened cyber security awareness across its large community of students and staff, fostering a culture of safety and vigilance.
How Manchester Metropolitan University Tackled Cyber Security Challenges in Higher Education
Manchester Metropolitan University is one of the largest universities in the UK with a community of over 36,000 students and almost 5,000 members of staff.
While virtually every major industry faces significant cyber security and compliance challenges, higher education is particularly vulnerable. Cyber security is changing the education sector and, in recent years, cyber attacks have emerged as one of the most significant threats to universities and colleges.
80% of Further and Higher Education institutions experienced at least one successful cyber attack.
Source: Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2020
With the cyber threat landscape constantly evolving, universities have become an attractive target for cybercriminals due to the huge volume of sensitive data they manage, from personally identifiable information and alumni donations, to valuable intellectual property. This type of information can be particularly valuable to cybercriminals and, if stolen or compromised, could cause significant damage far beyond the walls of the institution.
The higher education sector is also subject to stringent compliance regulations, and failure to comply with such obligations can lead to financial penalties and reputational damage. Inevitably this has implications for universities, their working practices and record keeping procedures.
Manchester Metropolitan University recognised that educating employees about the efficient management of its records was necessary in order to support its core functions, comply with its compliance and regulatory obligations, and enable the effective operation of the organisation.
Engaging employees with eLearning
Working with MetaCompliance, Manchester Metropolitan University sought to create an engaging eLearning series that educated employees about records management, the important role it has in the organisation, and how effective records management helps to secure the organisation’s valuable assets.
“Records Management is one of those things that is so important to an organisation, but it very easily gets forgotten, and missed. It’s about risk mitigation, it brings cost savings to an organisation, it saves time, and makes everybody more efficient. This series is really important in improving standards of information management across the organisation, and it will help with the overall awareness-raising.”
Nicki Hargreaves – Information Records Manager
MetaCompliance and Manchester Metropolitan University worked collaboratively to identify key learning objectives for the Records Management Series and relevant course topics for the university and other bodies in the UK public sector.
Based on ISO 15489, the Records Management Series addressed key topics such as naming conventions and version control, record location tracking, as well as record retention and disposal.
Personalised Content Development
MetaCompliance then applied their unique style and vision to the material, incorporating bite-sized nano videos and interactions that could be deployed to users individually, or combined into a larger course.
The ability to customise the courses with Manchester Metropolitan University’s logo, corporate colours, and branding helped to establish familiarity with the learner and create a high quality user experience.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with MetaCompliance. I think they’ve been very receptive to the challenge. I think they listened to everything that we had to say, they’ve acted on all of our feedback. It’s felt really collaborative the whole way through.”
– Nicki Hargreaves, Information Records Manager
Tailored and Targeted Training
Previously, Manchester Metropolitan University provided general guidance on records management using their internal intranet and Powerpoint presentations to staff. As such, there was no method in place to measure the effectiveness of the delivered training.
“One of our biggest challenges is the size of the organisation and getting training out in an efficient way to all of those people, as well as trying to make sure that we can reach different audiences across the University.”
Hannah Burling, Information Assurance Specialist
Using MetaCompliance’s learning management system, Manchester Metropolitan University can now create short, custom built courses that are tailored to their specific audience and their requirements. This enables the training to be delivered in a more engaging and consumable way. Depending on an employee’s role and responsibilities in the organisation, management can ensure that the eLearning content is relevant and addresses their specific needs.
The ability to add quizzes throughout the training content, offers the opportunity for management to assess their users and ensure that the eLearning is truly understood.
The reporting functionality also provides the organisation with greater insight, and enables management to track how many users have completed the training and report on user progress.
“We’ll be looking to make comparisons where we can, because anything that we can do that shows that awareness has made an impact, is beneficial when you’re looking at project outcomes, and assessing how successful your overall project’s been. The easy reporting dashboard within MetaCompliance’s platform will be of benefit to us.”
Hannah Burling, Information Assurance Specialist
Going forward, Manchester Metropolitan University will continue to use the Records Management Series to educate employees about records management best practices, determine user awareness levels and support regulatory compliance throughout the organisation.
Create Tailored Cyber Security and Privacy Training
For further information on how MetaCompliance can provide the best possible cyber security awareness and privacy training for your staff, get in touch.
