Read more about What is VPN. A top goal of cybercriminals is to trick you into downloading malware—programs or apps that carry malware or try to steal information. This malware can be disguised as an app: anything from a popular game to something that checks traffic or the weather. As PCWorld advises , don't download apps that look suspicious or come from a site you don't trust.
Passwords are one of the biggest weak spots in the whole Internet security structure, but there's currently no way around them. And the problem with passwords is that people tend to choose easy ones to remember such as "password" and "" , which are also easy for cyber thieves to guess. Select strong passwords that are harder for cybercriminals to demystify. Password manager software can help you to manage multiple passwords so that you don't forget them.
A strong password is one that is unique and complex—at least 15 characters long, mixing letters, numbers and special characters. Any time you make a purchase online, you need to provide credit card or bank account information—just what cybercriminals are most eager to get their hands on.
Only supply this information to sites that provide secure, encrypted connections. As Boston University notes, you can identify secure sites by looking for an address that starts with https: the S stands for secure rather than simply http: They may also be marked by a padlock icon next to the address bar.
The Internet does not have a delete key, as that young candidate in New Hampshire found out. Any comment or image you post online may stay online forever because removing the original say, from Twitter does not remove any copies that other people made.
There is no way for you to "take back" a remark you wish you hadn't made, or get rid of that embarrassing selfie you took at a party. Don't put anything online that you wouldn't want your mom or a prospective employer to see. People you meet online are not always who they claim to be. Indeed, they may not even be real. Internet Safety Concepts has taught thousands of students and parents about the importance of safety when using technology.
Students will learn how a picture shared could impact their future, how comments on a social networking site can come back to haunt them, and how cyberbullying — if not addressed appropriately — can have severe outcomes.
Presentation topics are tailored to the specific age group, from 4th grade through college. Topics covered range from the following:. With the constant surge of new information, programs and apps, the world is a click or text away.
While this requires more information and a thorough digital citizenship curriculum , it also gives your students the essential knowledge they need to protect themselves from digital pitfalls for the rest of their lives. Code is the back-end, written text that developers use to create webpages and webpage elements. With it, developers can tell a webpage to show a certain image at a certain point. They can denote where a video should go and whether it should play automatically.
These languages all have their strengths and weaknesses, and some of them can be used maliciously. The best way for students to learn about code is to learn how to code. Ads are everywhere these days. This is where a lot of websites run into trouble. The best thing to do is to show students how to use ad blocker extensions in common web browsers, like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.
But so few companies perform quality assurance checks on their ads for malicious code, and cybercriminals will always strive to stay one step ahead of the people who may catch them. Thankfully, secure connections are easy to identify. You can also teach students about virtual personal networks , or VPNs. So if you imagine a standard Internet connection as a copper wire, a VPN Internet connection would be like that copper wire covered in a thick layer of rubber for protection and waterproofing.
So why should you and your students care that ISPs, social networks, and third-party operators have access to your data? Packages of data are sold among companies just like any other product. The most recent example of this is the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal that revealed enormous breaches of personal privacy and dozens of security concerns. Essentially, every student in your classroom is valuable to an advertiser.
Because of that, their information has value for the social networks, ISPs, and other companies that collect it. Then, the people who buy that information can use it to deliver targeted advertisements to individuals through different means.
Have you ever talked to your friend about a brand or product only to open your Facebook account and see an ad for it right away? Have you ever texted someone about a book you wanted to read and then saw it as an ad at the top of Amazon? Advertisers have never had more access to information about you, your students, or anyone else in the world. Those ads are placed through a complex series of identification and delivery systems.
At the end of the day, Internet safety is a key part of students becoming good digital citizens. It requires a lot of knowledge. It requires a lot of practice.
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