Cyber Safety and Security for Students

Cyber safety and security can be defined as the practice of defending our computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, and any kind of network, from malicious attacks initiated by antisocial groups and organisations.

These people try to get access to our personal information related to money, work or personal information and extract money or threaten our secrets to get public. The attackers may try to put our computers, servers and networks offline and make them unavailable to the general public. They can also use our personal information to access our financial or work databases.

Cyber Security professionals are responsible for protecting our digital assets by detecting and stopping cyber attacks, recovering digital resources or providing timely warnings of potential threats.

Importance of Cyber Security for Kids

Kids are exposed to the internet and online world more than adults. Education, entertainment and all kinds of information are available on the internet. And also numerous illegal and malicious people are present on the internet and with one wrong click your entire system could get compromised and you can be threatened based on your data.

These days we have made ourselves very reliant on these technologies and are connected to the internet 24x7. Any photo or video that is posted on social media becomes a source of information about you for the world to see.

If the computer is in a common area of the home parents can keep an eye on their children while they are on the internet. Another way to add an extra layer of safety is to use a kind of antivirus software on the computer and manually block websites that could be harmful and also make the experience safer for the kids. It also allows parents to have an insight into their child’s mobile device activities.

Cyber Security Awareness for Students

It is a proven fact that kids are the most vulnerable population on the internet, with 90% of cyberbullying victims coming from this group. People should be made aware of the importance of cyber security for students. Here are some of the things you can do as precautions against cyber attacks.

Please Avoid Sharing Personal Information on Online Platform

Personal information includes all the details about you like, Full name, address, school’s name, parent’s name, and phone number. These are very valuable pieces of information and can allow any stranger on the Internet to get access to you. If these pieces of information are uploaded on social media, the privacy setting should not allow anyone to see that.

Making Strong Passwords

Strong passwords should be made for all our online accounts, be it our study platforms, social media or video streaming sites. To make a strong password there are certain characteristics. 

• It should be no less than eight characters and should not be commonly used words found in dictionaries. 

• Make it as abstract as it can get as that makes it tougher for hackers using computer programs to guess your password. 

• It should essentially be a mix of numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and special characters. 

When you need to make a profile on a platform which is not for any official use such as on government websites, never use the original full name as the username.

Password

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is very similar to real-life bullying but it takes place through electronic devices. Cyberbullying might include offensive texts, disgusting rumours spread on social media and even the leaking of personal information online. If a child experiences anything of that sort, they should immediately notify a parent or teacher about these incidents. There are strict laws against cyberbullying and one person doing so can face consequences for these activities.

App Security 101

These days everyone uses a mobile phone and it has the AppStore with a million apps free to download. But it doesn’t mean that all are safe apps. We should only download apps from known and trusted online stores.

Hundreds of scammers try to trick people into downloading apps that appear as real apps. The main function of these apps is to try to get the data that is on our phones. We can verify the genuineness and reality of these apps by reading the comments on the download page.

Summary 

Cyber safety and security are a vital part of our online life. It should be taken very seriously and we need to emphasise how we use the internet as safely as possible. It needs to be a place to gather information to elevate our knowledge without exposing too much of ourselves. Kids need to be monitored while on the internet and need to be taught about certain rules that can keep them and their loved ones safe. Kids should be given demonstrations about how to prevent cyber attacks and bullying.