Workshop on Web Rangers and Cyber security

ASN Senior Secondary School in collaboration with Google and Learning Links Foundation organised a workshop titled Web Rangers on 4th August 2016. This workshop was an initiative to train teenage students from across the country on online safety.

The students were not only informed about how unsafe the Internet is but were also shown ways to counter online scams and stay cyber safe. The aim was to train the young together to stay safe amongst fellow users too, thus, taking on the role of a web-ranger. Ayushi Verma and Arjun Pasricha of class X were representatives of our School.

At the workshop, we were first made aware of the need for cyber security. We were told we are not cyber safe. Online hackers who steal private information and misuse it are quite widespread. This act is termed as Identity Theft. Another act called Phishing, is an attempt to access personal information for malicious use through mails (to the victim user). These hackers falsely claim to be an established enterprise, and direct the user to visit a website where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords, credit card details, social security, etc. In this way, they steal the identity of the user.

In this age of technology, all of us are acquainted with social networking and for many, social networking is a part of our daily routine. This topic was also taken up in the workshop, where we were warned about the evils of social networking. To drive home the point, a case study was examined. The case study was about a girl, whose parents were not at home and who decided to invite her friends over for a party at night. She posted her invitation on a social networking site, intended only for her friends, but unfortunately, she posted it publicly. The word that she was alone at home and was having a party spread like wildfire. She ended up having a riot at her house and in the melee her house caught fire!

It was hereby concluded that we should follow Grandmas Rule each time we post something online. As per this rule, grandma would approve of what we are posting. Even though old-fashioned, this rule is definitely something that will help keep us safe.

One of the easiest ways hackers can access your account and steal your identity is by making out your passwords, particularly when they are weak. Some important techniques to ensure safety on this front are:- Never use the same password for multiple accounts. If the hacker is able to crack the password, then all your other accounts become vulnerable. Always have at least 8+ characters in your password. These should include complex characters. Using OTP (One Time Password) is a very good option. In this, the password on your mobile phone is valid only for one login session or transaction. A two-step verification process is important and adds a security layer over your personal account information. This is a procedure, which if turned on, will not enable anyone else except you to access your account, even if others know your password. It does this by sending a security code to your email or recovery phone number, every time you sign in from a new device. Besides this, we should also use a password manager. This software saves multiple passwords belonging to different accounts, which we tend to forget, in a secure manner.

Steps to ensure safety on the Internet were also discussed during the workshop. Some of these are: Search your name on various web browsers such as Google, Bing etc., and evaluate your online reputation by the search results provided by these browsers. Think before you share anything on the net. Keep your personal information private. Use web browsers in an incognito mode. This implies that the history and the cookies of websites visited by the user are not stored at all. Log out of public computers after use. All the students were advised to become web-rangers. A web- ranger is one who is able to deliver messages on safe internet use in a creative and interesting way. The web-ranger should be available and attentive to his or her friends on the web and help them feel more safe. The workshop ended with photo session and a certificate for every participant for ably rising to be web rangers!

Ms. Kriti Chakraborty.