‘PDNS for Colleges’ to rating cyber resilience for more institutions

The UK National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Protective Domain Name Service (PDNS) initiative, originally launched for schools, is now expanding to cover more institutions including colleges to improve cyber resilience across the education sector. PDNS acts as a powerful real-time filtering and threat detection system that analyzes incoming DNS queries and blocks malicious domains related to malware, ransomware, phishing, and other cyber threats before they reach users.

By scaling PDNS for colleges, the NCSC aims to provide an additional layer of cyber defense to protect sensitive data and critical infrastructure in educational institutions that face rising cyber attacks. PDNS helps institutions identify and block millions of attacks monthly, reducing operational disruption and financial losses.

This service is centrally funded and free for eligible public sector organizations. It includes features such as detailed network monitoring dashboards, roaming protection for remote users, and threat intelligence integration from multiple sources. The expansion supports the NCSC’s goal to boost cyber resilience broadly across public services by rating and strengthening institutions’ defenses with minimal effort required by organizations themselves.

Overall, PDNS for colleges represents an important step toward safeguarding the digital ecosystems of more educational institutions, ensuring they remain secure and resilient against evolving cyber threats while enabling a safer learning environment.​