Online Safety and Ethics

• The learners will be able to apply online safety, security, ethics, and etiquette standards and practice using ICTs in their specific professional tracks.
• The learners will be able to discuss what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate online behavior.
• The learners will be able to discern possible deceptive information and wrongly evaluated data.
• The learners will be able to understand the importance of making judgment calls on possible implications and consequences when making certain information public.
• Topic Outline: Online Safety/Internet Safety, Online Threats & Types, Online Safety Measures, and Online Ethics and Netiquette are to be covered.

Online Safety

• Online safety refers to the practices and precautions that should be observed when using the internet to ensure the users, their computers, and personal information are safe from crimes associated with using the internet.
• Numerous delinquencies can be committed on the internet including stalking, identity theft, privacy violations, and harassment.

Risks of Sharing Personal Information

• Sharing your first name still carries risk, as hackers may already know a lot about you.
• Sharing both your first and last name is riskier, making you vulnerable to searches and potential identity theft.
• Sharing just your middle name is not the riskiest, but sharing your entire full name would be.
• Information about current and previous schools can be used for identity verification purposes by those who steal identities.
• Your cellphone number should never be posted on the Internet.
• Sharing your mother's maiden name is risky, especially as it's often used for security questions.
• Sharing details about siblings is risky, as strangers may impersonate them.
• Sharing your address makes it easier for criminals to find you.
• Sharing your home phone number is risky because scams often use this information to deceive you.
• Sharing your birthday on your profile can make you vulnerable to identity theft, but is considered a must to get as many gifts as possible.

Online Safety Measures

• Never give out personal information over the Internet.
• Do not provide banking/sensitive information unless you are sure that it is a reputable business having a secure service.
• Ensure the website address begins with "https://" instead of "http://".
• Type the URL yourself instead of accessing accounts through email links.
• Do not open messages/attachments from unknown senders.
• Regularly review privacy settings in online accounts.
• Delete browsing data when using a public computer terminal.
• Keep software updated to avoid security holes.
• Do not download/install unknown software on your devices.

Online Threats

• An online threat is an act performed by a knowledgeable computer user, or hacker, who illegally browses or steals someone's information.

Types of Threats

• Phishing: Emails from internet criminals disguised as a legitimate, trustworthy source to lure you into revealing sensitive information.
• Pharming: A malicious website that resembles a legitimate website, used to gather usernames and passwords.
• Internet Scam: Misleads users with fabricated promises and tricks to cheat them of their personal property.
• Botnet: A network of zombie computers taken over by a robot/bot to perform large-scale malicious acts for the botnet creator
  • Captcha technology is used to avoid this type of security threat.
• Malware: A generic term for spyware and adware, disguised as real software, often secretly installed to transfer data or gather private information without user permission.
• Adware, a type of malware, automatically delivers advertisements via banner ads & pop-up ads.
• Spyware functions by spying on user activity without the user’s knowledge.
  • Spying capabilities may include activity monitoring, keystroke collection, data harvesting, and more.
  • A keylogger is an example of spyware.
• Virus: A program designed to replicate by attaching itself into other computer programs, data files, and the boot sector of the hard drive.
• Worm: Worm can be injected into a network by any type of means, like a USB stick or an email attachment.
• Trojan Horse: A type of malware that disguises itself as a normal file or program to trick users into downloading and installing malware.
• Iloveyou Virus (aka Love bug or love letter): A computer worm attached to an email that infected 10 million Windows personal computers, causing computer shutdown and file deletion in 2000
  • Created by Filipino students Onel De Guzman and Reonel Ramones.
• Bug: A malfunction on a computer system through runtime.
  • The term "bug" originated from a moth found on the Mark II computer by Grace Hopper that caused a system malfunction.
• Cyberstalking: The use of the internet or other electronic devices to harass or stalk an individual, group, or organization.
• Cyberbullying: The act of tormenting, threatening, harassing, or embarrassing another person using the internet or other technologies.
• Spam: Unsolicited email, instant messages, or social media messages that are easy to spot but can be damaging if opened or responded to.
• Spoofing: A criminal who impersonates an individual or organization with the intent to gather personal or business information.

Online Ethics and Netiquette

• Netiquette: Comes from the words Network and Etiquette.
  • A set of rules and norms for acceptable conduct/behavior online.
• Computer Ethics: Concerned with how computing professionals should make decisions regarding professional and social conduct.
• Privacy: The right of individuals to deny or restrict the collection and use of information about them.

Ten Core Rules of Netiquette

• Remember the Human.
• Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you would follow in real life.
• Know where you are in cyberspace.
• Respect other people’s time and bandwidth.
• Make yourself look good.
• Share expert knowledge.
• Help keep flame wars under control.
• Respect other people's privacy.
• Don't abuse your power.
• Be forgiving of other people's mistakes.

Authentication

• Authentication is a process where users verify their identity.
• It deals with the problem of determining whether a user should be allowed access to a particular system.
• Common authentication methods:
  • User Identification.
  • Possessed Objects.
  • Biometric Device.
  • Callback System.