UK school's network left wide open for invasion, student found

- A UK secondary school student discovered that his school's IT network was critically exposed to the internet, with systems like Active Directory, file servers, and CCTV accessible without proper authentication. He reported it to administrators, who initially dismissed him before eventually taking action. - The incident highlights systemic weaknesses in UK school cybersecurity. Many schools lack dedicated IT security staff and rely on under-resourced local authority or outsourced IT support, leaving networks vulnerable to ransomware gangs — a problem that has caused repeated school closures across the country. - Active Directory is Microsoft's directory service used by most large organizations to manage user accounts, permissions, and devices. Exposing it to the open internet is a well-known security risk because it gives attackers a single point from which they can take over the entire network.