--- title: "Offline Storage for Schools & Education | Firevault" url: https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education description: "Focus on safeguarding. Protect student data, SEND records and staff information from online threats with offline storage designed for the UK education." lang: en-GB --- OSS for Industry # Offline Secure Storage for Education Schools, MATs, and universities hold some of the most sensitive personal data in existence, safeguarding records, SEND files, and child protection logs. Offline Secure Storage (OSS) provides physical disconnection for your most vulnerable data. - Research IP theft - Safeguarding data exposure - Exam and grade tampering - Student PII breach View All Industries: https://fire-vault.com/solutions/oss #OSS at a glance Image: School and university records protected by Offline Secure Storage (https://fire-vault.com/assets/oss-industry-education-DxxePhVf.jpg) Offline Secure Storage® keeps a clean copy on hardware that is physically disconnected. Schools & Education Reality Schools, colleges and universities now hold safeguarding records, SEND files and family contact details that a single phishing email can put on the dark web. The Department for Education's Cyber Security Standards expect institutions to protect these records, but most settings still rely entirely on cloud backup. Firevault keeps the most sensitive student and staff records offline, so a ransomware incident on the school network cannot become a child-safeguarding breach. The evidence 01 Cyber incidents reported by UK schools in 2024 327 Cyber incidents reported by UK schools in 2024 NCSC Annual Review, 2025 02 ICO fine to Capita, which processes education data £14M ICO fine to Capita, which processes education data ICO, October 2025 03 Personal records stolen in single Co-op attack 6.5M Personal records stolen in single Co-op attack BBC News, 2025 04 ICO breach notification deadline for pupil data 72hrs ICO breach notification deadline for pupil data ICO Guidance Industry Risks ## Education data is uniquely sensitive. 01 ### Safeguarding Records Child protection logs and safeguarding records require the highest standard of confidentiality and protection. 02 ### Ransomware Targeting Education is now the most targeted sector for ransomware, the NCSC has issued multiple alerts. 03 ### Regulatory Pressure Ofsted, ICO, GDPR, and KCSIE mandate robust technical measures for pupil data protection. The reality ## This is already happening in education. Every incident below is a matter of public record. Each one involved data that was reachable from a live network at the moment of compromise. 01 ### NCSC: 327 Cyber Incidents Reported by UK Schools in 2024 The National Cyber Security Centre reported a record number of cyber incidents affecting UK schools, with ransomware and data exfiltration the most common attack types targeting pupil records. NCSC Annual Review, 2025 02 ### Capita: £14M Fine Affects Education Data Processing Capita processes data for hundreds of schools and local authorities. The ICO fined the outsourcer £14 million after hackers accessed personal data of over 6 million people, including education records. ICO, October 2025 03 ### Co-op: Pharmacy and Membership Data of 6.5 Million Stolen The Co-op attack demonstrated how organisations holding data across multiple sectors, including education partnerships, are vulnerable to mass data exfiltration. BBC News, 2025 We Think This Is Hard to Ignore > The NCSC reported 327 cyber incidents targeting UK education in 2024, with ransomware encrypting safeguarding and student records on connected school networks. At Firevault, pupil data lives on hardware that is physically disconnected, because children's records deserve the strongest protection available. How OSS Helps ## Remove pupil data from every system attackers can reach. Safeguarding records, SEND files, and child protection logs are taken off school networks and written to dedicated RAID 1 drives inside a Firevault Bunker. Those drives have no internet connection. No IP address. No API. When authorised staff need access, a physical connection is created after identity verification. When the session ends, the drives disconnect. - Safeguarding data removed from school networks and placed on hardware with no network connection. Ransomware cannot encrypt what is not online - SEND records isolated with identity-verified access. Stolen staff credentials cannot unlock physically disconnected hardware - Full audit trail for Ofsted, ICO, KCSIE, and GDPR compliance. Every access session is logged and attributable - Scalable from single schools to multi-academy trusts with centralised offline protection #### Take Pupil Data Off School Networks Step 1 of 3 Safeguarding records, SEND files, and child protection logs are taken off school networks and written to physically disconnected RAID 1 drives inside a Firevault Bunker. No cloud. No shared drive. No attack surface. What the regulator says DfE Cyber Security Standards for Schools and Colleges, 2023 > “Schools and colleges should hold backup copies of essential data on devices that are not permanently connected to the live network so that ransomware cannot encrypt them.” Featured In Read about Firevault on TechRadar Pro: https://www.techradar.com/pro/uk-startup-put-physical-disconnect-switch-in-its-cloud-storage-offering-to-mitigate-ransomware-attacks-but-will-that-be-enough Read about Firevault on Yahoo Finance: https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/firevault-launches-help-businesses-directors-074500961.html Read about Firevault on Channel Insider: https://www.channelinsider.com/security/tools-and-platforms/firevault-security-offline-platform-offering/ Read about Firevault on Security Buyer: https://securitybuyer.com/uk-cybersecurity-startup-launches-firevault/ Read about Firevault on SecurityBrief: https://securitybrief.com.au/story/firevault-unveils-offline-digital-vault-to-combat-rising-cyber-risks Choose your protection ## Which Offline Secure Storage® fits education? Every tier is the same physical principle at a different scale. Pick the access pattern that matches how your team works, then see the capacity, price and use cases for it. ### 300GB Occasional-Use Vault, Deep Cold Storage £74.99/mo inc. VAT · £0 due today Built for sensitive records that should not sit exposed on always-connected systems. Deep cold storage. One nominated access day each week within a 12-hour window. What 300GB holds ~60,000 high-res photos ~150,000 PDF documents ~1,200 hours of voice recordings ~75 hours of HD video Use Cases for Education - Safeguarding and child protection files - SEND and pupil support records - HR and disciplinary records - Governance, legal and incident files - Archived complaints and case materials Specifications Capacity 300GB Access 1 day/week, 12-hour window Authentication Identity-locked Commitment 36 months Security & Compliance Carefully Selected Bunkers DSIT-Referenced GDPR Art. 32 Cyber Essentials Plus How to Get Started Step 1 Discovery Call Understand what you need to protect and how you operate. Step 2 Vault Configuration Select your tier, capacity, and access model. Step 3 Identity Verification Complete KYC/AML and set up multi-factor authentication. Step 4 Go Live Data ingestion, access policy activation, and ongoing support. Get started: https://fire-vault.com/luv See Also: Control Network isolation for education See how Control governs campus and research network access. https://fire-vault.com/control-for-education ## Explore More ### GDPR Compliance See how OSS maps to education data compliance. Learn more about GDPR Compliance https://fire-vault.com/solutions/oss/compliance/gdpr ### Identity Documents Protect pupil identity records offline. Learn more about Identity Documents https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-identity-documents ### Customer Databases Take student records offline and out of reach. Learn more about Customer Databases https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-customer-databases Questions ## Frequently Asked ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/#organization", "name": "Firevault", "legalName": "Firevault Limited", "url": "https://fire-vault.com", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://fire-vault.com/logo.png", "width": 200, "height": 60 }, "foundingDate": "2025-03", "description": "Protect what matters with Offline Secure Storage and control what moves with Control by Firevault. Physically disconnected, always reachable by you.", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressCountry": "GB", "addressLocality": "United Kingdom" }, "contactPoint": [ { "@type": "ContactPoint", "contactType": "customer service", "email": "hello@fire-vault.com", "availableLanguage": "English", "areaServed": [ "GB", "EU", "US", "AE" ] }, { "@type": "ContactPoint", "contactType": "sales", "email": "sales@fire-vault.com", "availableLanguage": "English", "areaServed": [ "GB", "EU", "US", "AE" ] } ], "founder": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Fermor", "jobTitle": "Founder, CTO and CMO" }, { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Bailey", "jobTitle": "Founder and CEO" } ], "areaServed": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe", "United States", "Middle East" ], "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/firevault", "https://x.com/firevaultuk" ], "slogan": "Disconnect to Protect", "brand": [ { "@type": "Brand", "name": "Offline Secure Storage" }, { "@type": "Brand", "name": "Control by Firevault" }, { "@type": "Brand", "name": "Firebreak" } ], "knowsAbout": [ "Offline Secure Storage", "Physically disconnected data storage", "Physical Air Gap Data Protection", "Ransomware Protection", "Ransomware recovery", "3-2-1-1-0 backup rule", "AI kill switch", "Operational technology security", "Critical national infrastructure resilience", "Data Sovereignty", "GDPR Compliance", "NIS2 Compliance", "DORA Compliance", "NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/#website", "name": "Firevault", "alternateName": [ "Firevault", "Firevault UK", "Firevault Limited" ], "url": "https://fire-vault.com", "publisher": { "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/#organization" }, "inLanguage": "en-GB", "description": "Protect what matters with Offline Secure Storage and control what moves with Control by Firevault. Physically disconnected, always reachable by you.", "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://fire-vault.com/learn?q={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education#webpage", "url": "https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education", "name": "Offline Storage for Schools & Education", "description": "Focus on safeguarding. Protect student data, SEND records and staff information from online threats with offline storage designed for the UK education.", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/#website" }, "about": { "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/#organization" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://fire-vault.com/images/og/og-base-home.jpg" }, "inLanguage": "en-GB", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education#breadcrumb" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://fire-vault.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Offline Storage for Schools & Education", "item": "https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Service", "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education#service", "name": "Offline Secure Storage for Education", "serviceType": "Offline Secure Storage", "description": "Focus on safeguarding. Protect student data, SEND records and staff information from online threats with offline storage designed for the UK education.", "provider": { "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/#organization" }, "areaServed": [ { "@type": "Place", "name": "Europe" }, { "@type": "Country", "name": "United Kingdom" }, { "@type": "Country", "name": "United States" }, { "@type": "Place", "name": "Middle East" }, { "@type": "Place", "name": "Global" } ], "url": "https://fire-vault.com/oss-for-education", "category": "Education", "audience": { "@type": "BusinessAudience", "name": "Education" } } ] ```