We’ll never improve cybersecurity until we start educating our children properly
We’ve known for many years that huge numbers of young people going through the education system will spend a good part of their lives working with a computer or a similar device, such as a smartphone, and in most cases, with both. And yet all the evidence shows that most people still have no idea about cybersecurity and cyberculture.
For example, not only is the majority of the population unaware of the most basic principles of cybersecurity, they mismanage their devices, impinging on their work and their personal lives. Disinformation and fake news, spam, scams, identity theft and information theft are widespread: in fact, it is difficult to find anybody whose habits allow them to keep their devices free of junk.
While it’s true that cybersecurity is constantly evolving, it’s still relatively straightforward to manage privacy, protect oneself from disinformation and related issues. But this is only the case when it is not taught as specific, top-down knowledge, and instead comes from developing a wider culture of cybersecurity on a daily basis. When we talk about teaching cybersecurity in school or making it a graduation requirement, people think this means specific courses dedicated to technology, when the reality is that technology should be an integral part of every subject…
