Furthermore, reading this Newsweek report on cybersecurity issues and the recent media attention to the Conficker worm I started to think about something Estonian officials are doing - working to create a culture of cybersecurity. What are Americans doing about this? What are public schools doing to teach students how to properly protect digital equipment? Is it even our responsibility? In an age where, in my opinion, schools should be focusing on skills to create digitally literate citizens then yes, I believe that schools should be teaching students how to protect themselves and their equipment online. But how? How do we create an environment where students feel confident enough to use the Internet but still be wary of potential pitfalls and how to deal with emails like this one:
-----Original Message-----This message was received today by a user on my district's network. This is a pretty tricky situation for someone that is a low-end technology user. The email uses correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. It looks official - and it mimics a real message auto-generated by MS Exchange servers (and perhaps Novell Groupwise?). How do you explain to someone that they just emailed the "keys to the kingdom" to a hacker in [insert random city/country here]?
From:
Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 3:39 PM
Subject: Mailbox Storage Limit Exceeded
Your mailbox has exceeded one or more size limits set by your
administrator. You may not be able to send or receive new mail until
your mailbox size is increased by your system administrator. To make
more space available, contact your system administrator through e-mail
with your Username:{ } and Password:{ } to increase your storage limit.
System Administrator
E-mail: systems@administrativos.com
You will continue to receive this warning message periodically if your
inbox size continues to exceed its size limit.
This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to
which it is addressed and contains information that is privileged and
confidential.
In reflection, what am I doing to create a Culture of Cybersecurity?
1 comments:
Spam is the single biggest time waster of my day. You hit the nail on the head, it is extremely difficult for the low-tech end user to distinguish spam from legitimate mail. It is equally hard for students to keep up with what is real from what is spam. Many of my students are still learning to distinguish fact from fiction in literature. It does need to be addressed in the school system...if not here, where?
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