How Safe Are You Online?

We all use technology everyday as if it is second nature. It is convenient, time-saving, and now more than ever a part of our lives. Many of us find ourselves online almost as much, if not more than we are off. Every year, more and more of our personal data, information, and behavior ends up out in cyberspace. Most of us go about this with little to no worry as our interaction is between us and our PC, tablet, or smart phone. Or is it? Just how safe are we? Is there a need to be worried? Nothing is really going to happen, right? Wrong.

Click here to see what's lurking out there...

As technology rapidly expands and improves, so do the threats and dangers to our identity and personal well being. Carol Stott reports a shocking 64% of emails sent in 2014 were spam, which is nearly 2 out of 3 (Stott, 2014). With such a large number of potentially harmful emails being sent, there is huge risk to any technology user, a competent instructor can not be complacent. Our privacy and digital safety is always under threat. As educators, we are not only responsible for our own personal safety online, but more importantly, the well being and safety of our students. It is of the utmost importance that we educate ourselves on the potential disasters everyone faces every time we access a device which connects to the internet.

From pharming and phishing to sexting to cyberbullying, there is much to watch out for. With the Internet being a vast resource of information and tools, we must also pay careful attention that, we or our students, do not bring trouble upon ourselves with violation of copyright or fair user practices. Researching and delivering a presentation on pharming and phishing, I now feel much more prepared to ensure that my students and I are responsibly using the Net, and not allowing it to be used against us.

The threats we researched and gave presentations on as a class (mentioned in the paragraph above) are the most popular, most frequently encountered breaches of security we, and our students, will encounter every time we go online. It was very good that we examined these as we found that almost all of the class members had fallen prey to one of the tactics at one time or another. If we are to be responsible and effective users and teachers of technology, it is imperative that we set an example and have a solid understanding of how to avoid any such incidences.

Rootkits, and Trojans, and Botnets, Oh, my!

As we give presentations, create multimedia lessons, and require students to use online tools and software for their assignments, it is on each of us as educators to also demonstrate competence and teach what is responsible, acceptable use of technology. In addition to integrating into my instruction the topics we covered, I would also like to discuss and deal with Rootkits, Trojans, and Botnets in my classes. These invasive programs are incredibly damaging to a user’s privacy and the security of the information stored in a device. Once inside your machine the programs can record passwords, commandeer webcams to monitor your actions, gain administrator access to your device, or use your computer as part of a network of computers that contribute to the dissemination of spam emails and spyware (Sanchez, 2010).

Your best defense is teaching a solid offense

These viruses attack and destroy as they steal personal or professional data. I feel including these in a unit of study will help show students the reality of how much damage these invasive programs can do if allowed onto a device. Prevention is key in protecting your identity, privacy, and valuable data. How can we make sure students are smart about not encountering these potentially disastrous viruses? Michael Sanchez of Cisco Systems brilliantly states in his blog, “Just as your mother may have told you to never talk to strangers, the same advice holds true for the virtual world” (Sanchez, 2010).

So how then can we a educators ensure we are teaching responsible use of technology and ensuring students are avoiding “strangers” online? How can GE teachers reach students and help create safe, responsible, and tech savvy individuals? As a teacher of Language Arts, I have some ideas on how I will personally incorporate what I have learned in ED 609 into my classes. I will integrate one of the major threats (invasive viruses, copyright and fair use policy, pharming & phishing, sexting, cyberbullying etc.) at the start of each new content unit, starting with the invasive viruses. I will follow this with a lesson on copyright and fair use, as students must be aware of this early before our projects and presentations begin.

For more on teaching online safety visit staysafeonline.org here

I feel these lessons early in the course of the class is most helpful and also recommend that in future ED 609 classes the online safety presentations take place first as they impact on all we do online. Having students do group presentations similar to the ones we gave in class, research and create posters on Internet safety and proper copyright procedure, as well as create and sign student Internet usage contracts will prove engaging, immersive, and practical in keeping individuals safe and in compliance with the law. I would also consider assigning students writing assignments on the topics to publish and raise awareness around our school. It simply takes an understanding of the dangers and an informed educator who can demonstrate good practices/policies to help keep tech users safe and secure online.

For more useful information on countering specific threats to online safety, please visit the blogs of some of my fellow educators.

For cyberbullying:
Dianne West at http://diannewest.blogspot.com

For sexting or sexual harassment:
Katrina Quinata at http://enlightenedbymskat.blogspot.com

For copyright and fair user practices:
David Macaluso at http://technolanguage.blogspot.com/2015/07/david-f.html

 

References:

Sanchez, M. (2010, December 9). The 10 most common security threat explained.Retrieved

July 4, 2015.

 

Stott, C. (2014, May 7). 2014 Estimated Global Email Spam Rate is 64%. That’s Almost 2   Out of 3 Emails! Retrieved July 4, 2015.