Being safe on the internet in one of a 21st century skill everyone needs to have. If you are lucky enough to have learnt it in school, perhaps you would need a little refresher!
What is e-safety
It is internet safety or cyber safety; it is when you as an individual is having the right knowledge to be safe and knowing what threats might be lurking around.
Many young people or if not all, are at great risk if they are not aware of the issues they may face when communicating via the internet. That is why, it is of great importance to educate and spread awareness for this. Maybe you have younger siblings that use their or your phone excessively communicating with strangers on an online game or maybe your parents or your grandparents that come across believable scams. It can range from a small-scale crime of talking to fraudsters to accidentally giving away your username, account name and even password to your online banking!
It can get very messy very quickly.
That is why education is an important tool to spread awareness.
E-safety for younger children
- Do not share personal information such as names and address to strangers.
- Do not give out passwords
- Do not befriend people you don’t know online
- Do not meet up with people from the internet in real life. Tell an adult right away!
- Be careful of what you post.
- use the SMART method (stay Safe, dont MEET up, ACCEPTING files, is it RELIABLE?, Tell someone)
E-safety for seniors
- Do not believe everything you see – perhaps there is a advert sent to your email about you winning $1000. If it sounds too good to be true, it is probably a scam
- Make sure your password’s strength is at the maximum
- Anti-virus software should be updated
- Do not give out personal and sensitive information online. If it falls in the wrong hands, it could be used against you
- Be cautious of clicking links that take you on external websites.
The tips written above is applicable to everyone, because everyone is connected using the internet and is using services that are on the World Wide Web.
I have tried to summarise it for you, dear readers. If you would like to know more, click on the link below or share this blog posts to your loved ones.
Images from
https://edtechnology.co.uk/Article/childnet-announces-winners-of-online-safety-film-competition/
Extra reading if you have younger children.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
Extra reading if you know any older adults
https://cyberinsureone.com/online-safety-seniors/
https://www.protectseniorsonline.com/resources/cybersecurity-best-practices/
