1-Digital Footprint and Reputation
Most of us use the Internet as a way to connect with friends, explore topics, or study for school. Many are connected to multiple social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We share various pieces of our lives online, from our weekend plans to photos of the last food we ate If the digital footprint you are creating lasts a lifetime, is it one you’ll be proud to share? Even more immediate, is your online reputation one you’re willing to share with college admissions or future employers?
Exercise : What is your Digital Footprint?
Search for yourself on Google. If you have a common name, you might need to search for your name and the city you live in. For example Joanne Smith San Francisco.
- What comes up in your Google search?
- What was the most surprising thing that you noticed?
- What are some actions you should take to maintain a positive digital footprint?
2-Cyberbullying
The internet has provided tremendous value. It provides a potential for learning, socializing, and leisure. However, with these advancements, also comes new problems, including cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or threatening nature. It is the most common online risk for teenagers and can occur to any young person online. Unlike bullying, there are no common risk factors. It really can happen to anyone.
What to do if you encounter cyberbullying:
- Tell a trusted adult (i.e. a parent or a teacher)
- Contact host/website provides if inappropriate material is being posted on their website.
- Save all evidence if bullying is taking place online.
- Do not respond to rude messages. This only encourages the bully.
- If the cyberbullying is directed at another person, stand up for the victim!
Exercise :
Class Exercise
Read each scenario below. For each scenario, discuss with a classmate how well you think the person in each story below handled cyberbullying and how you might have handled it differently.
Scenario 1:
Sami began receiving rude emails from an email address she did not recognize. The emails ridiculed her hairstyle and the clothes she wore to school, so she assumed that the emails were from someone she knew. Sami decided to delete the emails and not tell her parents because she did not want to lose internet privileges.
Did Sami handle the incident well? If not, how could she have handled the situation differently?
Sami did not handle this situation as well as she could have. Sami did do the right thing by not responding to the emails, however, she should have saved the emails as proof of the incident. Also, Sami should have immediately told her parents or another trusted adult.
Scenario 2:
David received a friend request from Charlie. He had met Charlie once or twice but did not know him very well. To add to his growing number of friends, David accepted the friend request. Soon after, Charlie started posting strange photographs on David’s timeline. David quickly consulted his parents who advised him to send Charlie a private message asking him to stop. When Charlie continued to post these photos on David’s timeline, David “unfriended” Charlie on Facebook and blocked Charlie from seeing his Facebook account. He then reported the photographs Charlie had posted to Facebook.
Did Charlie handle the incident well? If not, how could he have handled the situation differently?
Charlie handled the incident well. He saved the emails, told a trusted adult, and also reported the photographs to Facebook administration.
Reflection
- Have you ever witnessed an instance of cyberbullying? What happened?
- What are some steps the victim could have taken in a cyberbullying situation?
- What are some steps that bystanders could have taken in a cyberbullying situation?
3-Privacy & Security
How Strong is your Password?
Strong passwords are an important part of cybersecurity. When you make an account with an online service, your password is what authorizes you to access your information for that service. Your password identifies you as you. If someone were to steal your password, or guess your password, they would be able to masquerade as you and steal your information!
Try it out!
https://www.passwordmonster.com/
https://bitwarden.com/password-strength/
Play around with this tool to test the strength of various passwords.
Make sure you read the statistics and facts about each password you try.
As you test out different passwords, consider the following questions. For 2 through 5, include how long it would take to guess the password.
- Why do you think websites commonly require you to have at least 8 characters, and a mix of uppercase characters, lowercase characters, numbers, and symbols?
- Try making 8 character passwords using only lowercase alphabet characters (a-z). What is the strongest password you can make?
- Now try mixing upper and lowercase characters, still only 8 characters total. Now, what is the strongest password you can make?
- Now try adding numbers and symbols, still only 8 characters total. Now, what is the strongest password you can make?
- Now, using only lowercase characters, make a password that is 20 characters or longer. Is this password better or worse than an 8 character password with letters, numbers, and symbols?
- As you play around with different types of passwords, what seems to be the single factor that guarantees a strong password?
WHAT IF YOU GET HACKED?
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One morning, you open your email, and everything has gone haywire: Friends are chatting you to say they’ve received spam from your address. Your login history looks odd. You have a pile of bounce-back messages in your inbox and a bunch of strange messages in your sent box. You’ve been hacked – so what should you do?
First, recover your email account, and change your password (use our guidelines to formulate a strong one). Complete all the steps, such as changing security questions and setting up phone notifications. Because email is filled with personal information, you should also notify your bank, PayPal, online stores, and any other accounts to discern whether a breach has occurred. Be sure to change other passwords as well. Finally, notify your contacts in case emails sent from your account have compromised their information too. While not getting hacked at all is the best-case scenario, promptly taking these steps can make the best of a bad situation.
PROTECT YOURSELF
As time goes on, it only becomes more likely that your password will be hacked – putting your most personal information at risk. By taking a few steps to enhance your password, you can exponentially minimize the risk of a breach. When it comes to passwords, size trumps all else – so choose one that’s at least 16 characters. And be sure to choose a mix of character types (numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and symbols) to further enhance its security.
What else can you do? Steer clear of words found in the dictionary, pronouns, usernames, and other predefined terms, as well as commonly used passwords – the top two in 2015 were “123456” and “password” (yes, you read that right). Also, never use the same password in different places (that forgotten account at a site you never use could lead to a bank account breach). Consider using a password generator in order to get a complex password with no discernible pattern to help thwart password crackers. Finally, if memorizing long strings of characters proves too taxing, consider adopting a password manager that stores all your passwords. No password is perfect, but taking these steps can go a long way toward security and peace of mind.
Source:
Better Buys. “Password Strength Meter” Take The Password Test My1Login, 2016. Web. 17 August 2016. https://www.betterbuys.com/estimating-password-cracking-times/
Kids aren’t online using banking or filing their taxes. They play games, watch TV, and chat with their friends. However, just because they generate less sensitive personal and financial data doesn’t mean that they aren’t targets. Moreover, they might not be aware that their present digital lives can hurt them or their families. Indeed, their propensity to use the internet in secret as a means of gaining privacy and independence can make it harder for you to stop what’s happening if need be.
All children (and their parents) should have a basic understanding of how to protect their identities online. Teaching kids to use anonymous screen names, strong passwords, and to be wary of strange apps and emails is important. Adults could do with a refresher, too: Dashlane, a password protection SaaS, analyzed 61 million publicly-available passwords and found that most passwords are alarmingly weak. These are basic security hygiene practices that everyone can improve upon. These practices will help protect them from issues both today and in the future, like scams and identity theft.
