PDNS - Free Cyber Services for UK Education Sector!

The National Cyber Security Centres Protective Domain Name System (PDNS) has recently been announced to be free for more UK based education institutions with independent schools, Multi-academy trusts, academies and school internet service providers now able to apply for and use the tool.

PDNS is a free cyber tool that will prevent access to malicious websites such as sites containing, malware, ransomware and spyware.

This comes of the back of recent figures released from the UK’s Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation which has revealed that over 2023/2024, one third of English schools suffered a cyber-attack.

This is largely due to an increase in crypto jacking and internet of things malware attacks, that have seen a significant rise in frequency over the 23/24 time period. Despite the rise in malware attacks, ransomware attacks targeting schools have actually decreased by 77%.

PDNS is a part of myNCSC and schools simply need to request that their DNS provider register for the service through myNCSC.

To learn more about what services are available via myNCSC you can visit the NCSC website: MyNCSC - NCSC.GOV.UK