About Phishing:
- phishing attacks have increased over the years
- phishing attacks seek to steal people's personal identity
- scammers are using more sophisticated ways to attack consumers
- repercussions for scammers are difficult to pinpoint and enforce
What can be done?
- conduct internal security checks to identify vulnerabilities, which will therefore protect individuals (i.e. in public spaces- library, at work, in schools, etc.)
- educate consumers, students, etc.
- never respond to an email by giving away personal information, unless you are certain that the source is a valid and secure one
- keep current with new ways in which scammers phish for information
Is this something schools should be discussing?
This topic is absolutely relevant to school librarians who typically house a technology center in the library. We need to take the initiative to teach our students what to be aware of when venturing online. Librarians can teach kids by making the content more age appropriate to the audience, but also in such a way that the message clearly gets across.
I'm not a librarian yet...if any of you fellow bloggers are, have you discussed this topic yet with your students?
~Kate
4 comments:
Yes, and no. Yes, I instruct all my students to stay away from any solicitations, but NO, I don't go into chapter an verse why (except to say that they attract viruses to the computers). I will, however, change that when I get back to the library. In fact, I think we should consider sending an email to our colleagues at school informing them about the dangers of phishing -- in our school there are 5 laptops in every classroom. In addition, I am not sure what the status is of our spyware at school. I have a feeling the subscriptions have expired -- Another item for the "TO DO" list!
Hi Kate-
I am a teacher working as a librarian in the library. I am not equipped with computers, but if I were, I would definitely address these security issues. I'm going to bring it up with both computer lab teachers when I get back to school. Actually, there's so much information that I need to share with them that I don't even know where to begin! This has been a real eye-opening experience.
**Beatrice**
Beatrice...there aren't any computers in your library? Interesting as so much of what we're learning involves computer access. Are you a Robin Hood school awaiting the grant?
Kate
Hi Kate,
I like Julie, have informal conversations with individual students about not sharing personal information. I have not, however, held any workshops for teachers or parents or taught whole classes about this topic. After running our discussion board on this topic, though, I definitely feel this is a subject that should be more formally addressed.
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