Welcome to Week 1-4 of the four-week K-12 Cyber
Awareness Month (CAM) campaign, running from October 4 to 29, 2021.
This year’s campaign theme, “Cyber awareness as self-care”,
has the objective of helping everyone in K-12 education – teachers, staff,
students and parents – be safer and more secure online. The campaign provides
resources to help everyone understand pertinent cyber threats and know a few
simple steps to protect themselves, their workplace, learning space, and their
devices.
The campaign is divided into weekly themes which highlight
different aspects of cyber security, online privacy and online (cyber) safety,
as all three areas are of equal importance to K-12. For each weekly theme,
resources from multiple reputable sources are provided.
All listed resources are also available in French.
October 4 to 8, 2021
Week 1: Show your devices and accounts some love
Fortifying and locking down our devices and online
accounts should always be a priority.
Our devices and accounts are what we use to stay connected,
to create and publish content, access online services, and play games. They are
the doors to our online presence. We use our devices to authenticate who we
are, communicate through email, texting, social media, and other tools, and we
also use our devices to store personal information locally or in the cloud.
Many of us have multiple devices and accounts. Some are
personal and some are for work, and some personal devices may be shared with
other family members. Keeping track of it all can sometimes be challenging but
it is important to do so.
This week take stock of your user accounts and devices and
learn how to better protect them.
Topics and tips for Week 1
include:
Access the embedded links to find out more (links will
take you to different websites):
- Enable the strongest authentication tools available on
your devices and online accounts (e.g. biometrics, multi-factor
authentication, and strong passphrases or complex passwords).
· Create a strong password or
passphrase unique to each
account. Best practices for passphrases
and passwords.
· Use MFA (multi-factor
authentication) to add an extra
layer of protection.
· Enable biometrics such as fingerprints or facial recognition as an
authentication factor.
· If you have too many passwords to remember, consider a password manager.
Videos
The CAM videos created by ECNO and the Ministry of Education
are perfectly tailored to be played on school hallway/atrium TVs. With simple
yet effective animations, and close captions/subtitles embedded
into the videos, they can easily be played on repeat with no sound
distractions. They can be found at the below links:
Week 1a – Show your devices and accounts
some love - Niko
Week 1b – Show your devices and accounts
some love - Niko
Stay tuned for
Week 2: Paying attention to your home network and Wi-Fi connections on
Monday October 11th.
October 11 to 15, 2021
Week 2: Pay attention to your home network and Wi-Fi connections
Safe and secure Wi-Fi connections are just as important as having secure devices and online accounts.
Nowadays most devices are connected to the internet through our home network, our school or office network, a data plan, or a public Wi-Fi hotspot. Many of the applications installed on our devices require an internet connection to access online services and function properly. Our devices will often look to connect to available Wi-Fi hotspots irrespective of whether that Wi-Fi connection is safe or not. It is up to the device user to ensure appropriate security and safety measures are taken when connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots or deciding not to connect.
Topics and tips for Week 2 include:
Access the embedded links to find out more (links will take you to different websites):
- Secure your home network and actively managing it. Considering upgrading your network router every 3-5 years to take advantage of improvements in security features.
- Take stock of devices connected to your home network and monitoring for unusual activity.
- Setup a guest network for your friends and visiting family members to separate their access and activity from all your home devices.
- Setup a separate network for your smart devices, so if compromises occur, the threat remains isolated from your personal devices that contain personal and sensitive information.
- Kid-proof your home Wi-Fi network to make it safe for children.
- Avoid untrusted public Wi-Fi access; use a personal data plan or personal hotspot or use a VPN when having to connect through an untrusted Wi-Fi hotspot.
Videos
The CAM videos created by ECNO and the Ministry of Education are perfectly tailored to be played on school hallway/atrium TVs. With simple yet effective animations, and close captions/subtitles embedded into the videos, they can easily be played on repeat with no sound distractions. They can be found at the below links:
Week 2a – Pay attention to your home network and Wi-Fi connections with Sam
Week 2b – Pay attention to your home network and Wi-Fi connections with William
October 18 to 22, 2021
Week 3: Care for your personal information – it is valuable!
It is more important than
ever to protect our personal information.
With personal devices, smart
devices and the internet becoming a routine part of our lives, as we use them
to work, learn, exercise, entertain ourselves and socialize, it is more
important than ever to protect our personal information and teach our kids to
develop habits that will make it part of their day-to-day routine. Like how
children learn to be safe outdoors, children need to learn to be safe online.
Topics and tips for Week 3
include:
Access the embedded links to find out more (links will
take you to different websites):
·
How to protect yourself from
identity theft
·
Tips for protecting personal information
·
Quick privacy tips for parents
·
Privacy pursuit – Games and
Activities for kids (NEW)
- Familiarize yourself with the terms and conditions of
applications you use as some may be sharing your personal information with
third-party organizations.
- Avoid phishing attempts and online scams.
·
The 7 flags of phishing and the most common forms of phishing
·
How to shop online safely
·
How to use online banking
securely
Videos
The CAM videos created by ECNO and the Ministry of
Education are perfectly tailored to be played on school hallway/atrium TVs.
With simple yet effective animations, and close captions/subtitles embedded into the videos, they can easily be played
on repeat with no sound distractions. They can be found at the below links:
Week 3 – Care for your personal
information, it is valuable with Niimi
October 25 to 29, 2021
Week 4: Be mindful of your online presence and digital
footprint
It’s important to manage your
online presence and digital footprint!
This past year, kids have faced
unique challenges, as many of their in-person activities have been replaced
with an increased use of technology. This has resulted in an unprecedented
increased online presence and digital footprint for most of us, adults, and
kids alike.
Everyone should assume that what
is shared online will remain online forever. Every action you take online, and
information posted about you contributes to your “digital footprint” which can
straddle our personal, student and professional lives. Improving our awareness
of the traces of data we leave online and recognizing how our individual
digital footprints vary can help to improve the protection of our data online.
Topics and tips for Week 4 include:
Access the embedded links to find out more (links will
take you to different websites):
Videos
The CAM videos created by ECNO and the Ministry of
Education are perfectly tailored to be played on school hallway/atrium TVs.
With simple yet effective animations, and close captions/subtitles embedded into the videos, they can easily be played
on repeat with no sound distractions. They can be found at the below links:
Week 4: Be
mindful of your online presence and digital footprint - Amara
