Blog posts about Education, CyberSecurity, Digital Citizenship, Privacy, InternetSafety, curation, PKM, PLN, blogging, Global Collaboration, Coaching, Collaboration, eSkills, eLeadership, Coding, MakerED, MakerSpace, Social Media, How to learn, learning to learn
The first steps before the kids go online are to protect the computer and Smartphone(s) at its BEST as possible to make sure that a BAD click will NOT become a catastrophe!Second step is to talk to the kids about the dangers of the internet and related with the use of the computer and the tablets, Smartphones and about the dangers of Social Media.
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French (Français): Danger connu est danger vaincu ! Mieux vaut prévoir que valoir ! Un enfant averti en vaut deux. English: Forewarned is Forearmed! Deutsch (German): Gefahr erkannt is Gefahr gebannt! Vorsicht heisst die Mutter der Porzellankiste!
« Good habits formed at youth make all the difference. »Aristotle
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How To Protect The Home Network AND The Computers In This Network!?
YES, YOU have read it correctly, I mentioned “Network”. WHY!? Because just letting everybody owning ONLY his (her) own device at home wouldn’t make sense, BETTER is to connect ALL the devices (Smartphones, tablets…) together in a Network where YOU could share even together your files, photos, videos… AND this through a secured Network. Everybody will get his OWN “User Account” where one “User Account” will be the “Administrator Account“, the parents account, who will have 100% access on the main computer. ALL the others will have an “User Account” with restricted access. Check out below on the How-To create “User Accounts”.
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Click the above image to view the video on the How-To, please.
Click the above image to access the articles, please.
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YOU may ALSO change the Wi-Fi Password 2-3 times a week on YOUR router so that YOUR kids get ONLY access after THEY made certain tasks which YOU told THEM to achieve 😉 Thus meaning, YOU handle over the NEW Password ONLY when those tasks were achieved!
Change your Router’s Pass Word!
Cybercriminals may also use your Router (without that you know it…) when you haven’t changed the original settings! Text from Internet / Network Security:
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===> The first step in securing your wireless network is the same as the first step for just about everything else in computers and computer networking — always change the defaults. Any attacker can find out what the default username and password is for a given program or device in just a few minutes. <===
SO, NOW YOU got a protected Network and the family members are in a technical secured home environment, what else to do!?
For whatever device (computer, tablet, Smartphone…) and/or OS (Operating System/Mac, Linux, Windows) YOUR family members own, YOU MUST install an antivirus on them. I recommend to use an “Internet Security Suite” which combines antivirus, firewall, antispyware and… Read more below what else to do…
Learn in one week how to get Best protection-The Practice
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I will divide the tasks through a whole week, so it will be very easy for you to find the necessary time to achieve them, those who have the necessary time can, of course, achieve more tasks…
Installing WOT + McAfee SiteAdvisor for knowing which websites are trustful and which ones are malicious! “WOT” ALONE isn’t enough! My experience over years 😉
Use BitDefender QuickScan and scan your computer! Find out if your computer is clean. It only takes a few seconds.Install Secunia Personal Software Inspector, which is checking and automating updates of Third Party Programs.
.Sunday: Use the Sunday for a relax check if everything is OK! It takes ONLY 5 minutes. Use the “Security Score” Software to check if everything is OK! 5 minutes ONLY!
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As you can see in the table “Necessary Time”, most actions need ONLY 5-10 minutes! Eaaaaaaaasy to follow and to use, what are you waiting for!? 😉
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For those who have the necessary time: I suggest to you to install first the FREE program “Security Score” (for WINDOWS ONLY) and start to check after your Tuesday-Task and after any days task to see the evolution of your security score! This will probably make you more confident and you certainly will try to reach a better “Security Score”, this for your motivation… Try it out:
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Let Us ALSO Protect OUR Privacy
Are YOU aware of the dangers of WiFi on public places? YOU should!
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Protect yourself on public WiFi: ALL your data could get seen when not taken the right precautions on a public WiFi Access (HotSpot)…
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First of all, check out to know more about how easy it is to get information about your online communications (passwords and private information…) as also on how easy it is to hijack your accounts while using a public WiFi!!!
And NOT TO FORGET the Apps: Do YOU know WHICH permissions YOU gave YOUR #Apps? Do YOU know HOW MUCH #Privacy YOU share without knowing? Check below, please and WONDER:
By knowing NOW about the dangers and PRIVACY I suggest that YOU install a “VPN” (Virtual Private Network) application on each browser (Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera, IE…) that YOU use, here below my selection (non-exhaustive list).
WHAT’s The Appropriate Age For Kids To Start With It AND How-To?
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« Good habits formed at youth make all the difference. »Aristotle
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WHAT’S THE appropriate age for kids to start learning about InternetSafety and CyberSecurity? A question I get asked very often. Well, let us say it this way: when kids understand what is BAD and GOOD, that will be the perfect timing to start to teach them about the dangers of the internetand how to get the right reflexes. YES, reflexes they can learn them easily, NO Technic of course as they wouldn’t understand it! Experts say that the right age would be 5 years old, check the link below, please:
Personally I started to teach my wife’s niece 12 years ago when she was 4 1/2 year old and that worked perfectly. I will tell YOU how I did and YOU can try it out as well, success guaranteed.
First of all ask the kid if it knows about the BAD and the GOOD in our real world and tell it that on the internet (virtual world) it is the same. Tell them that the BAD guys will infect the computer, explain them that it is similar to an infection in real world (flu, as example…). For that reason they need a protection on the computer which will get updated, that’s the vaccine. When they know about vaccine in real world, they will understand that it is a MUST!
Parents should have taught them this about vaccines! WE will remember them each day (or at any time they go online) when getting online with the computer to check if the antivirus is switched on, they will get ===> THE reflex <=== later to check about THAT action. It is actually very easy, I will explain below.
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As YOU can see on left-hand side the antivirus, in our case “Norton Internet Security Suite” is visible (see red circle). WE see as well that there is a green checkmark. This checkmark shows us that the antivirus is switched on and updated. Tell the kids up from early age to check this every time they use the computer, they will remember it.
Install ALSO WOT and McAfee SiteAdvisor on any devices as both show what websites to trust by indicating it with three different colours (green,orange, red). The kids will recognize the colours and understand.
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With the above mentioned advice your kids will learn the necessary basic reflexes to stay safe on the internet. BUT DON’T FORGET: a security by 100% doesn’t exist and the weakest link in the security chain is the human!
Learning Responsibility: Family Pledge And Passwords
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Use a psychological trick to remember your family members about the MUST to take care about their weeklyCyberHygiene, the reflex to learn, and play the song “The Reflex-Duran Duran”. They will get used to it, and every time they hear the song they would know that there is something special to do, such as NEW “Updates“! Easy to use, isn’t it 😉
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Organize a Family Weekly-Security-Day
My suggestion: to make sure that anybody’s computer is secure at home I suggest that you introduce a “Family Weekly-Security-Day“, where any week one member of your family will get chosen as the “responsible” for the week and that “responsible” will remind you to respect the weekly task and controls also that the task was achieved! I will provide you with a sheet from Google Docs which you can use for it…
===> Play as a team in the family to make sure that everybody respects the weeklySecurity-Day! Any week someone else is responsible to remember the whole team (family) for the Weekly-Security-Day-Task! <===
You can even imagine some penalties such as e.g. making the dish-wash for 2 days, or similar, LOL 😉
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===> Motivation: don’t let us forget the positive side and motivate members of family to do that unusual task by giving them some special bonus points when well done that task! Those bonus points could result in: <===
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Penalties could get reset for a certain time (up to you to make the rules…)
Bonus points will get collected and by reaching a certain score will result by paying out some money (up to you to say how much…)
Your own ideas for motivating the team to do the tasks…
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Create a family pledge where the members have to agree to to respect the family community responsibility. You may ALSO make one member of the family the responsible person for one week who takes care of the others and who will supervise that each member of the family respects the weekly security tasks. A spreadsheet may help, here below an example.
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Click the above image to access the document.
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This blog post was featured on “Cyberwise” in March 06, 2015.
Click the above image, please, to access the article
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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
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Necessary keywords for me to create this blog post: Family pledge: learning responsibility. password ONLY when done some tasks… Password CHANGE ALL 3 months, reflexes, showing the way, remembering the said when growing, asking questions when not comfortable, comfort zone together with parents, workstation NOT in separate room, published articles in the press, responsibility, community feeling, empathy, examples from traffic, the THREE colours (red, green, orange), WOT, McAfee Site Advisor, secure surfing, Antivirus reflex, Wi-Fi password change every day or once a week when tasks are done kids get it 😉 Router configuration for family… Passwords, sending messages over the network (#FSCD), planifying #FSCD over DOODLE, Family Safety, computer in a place who everybody is seeing; NOT in bedroom!, Install VPN on any devices as browser add-on.===> creating different accounts, ONE Administrator the others with restricted…, creating a Home-Network for sharing documents, photos, etc., tutorial from Microsoft about different accounts, links, Privacy settings, WOT, Any Friday #FSCD, family pledge, creating a sense of responsibility, Updates, 3dParty, CyberBullying Avira !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! garage appointment for cars, CyberHygiene, creating sense of responsibility,
Well, there is a lot of different views about ===> Digital CitizenShip <=== WE will explore WHAT could be THE BEST way to teach and to learn about Digital CitizenShip (hashtag on Twitter is #digcit) AND THEREFORE WE will use an infographic from Nancy WHITE ===> You can follow her on Twitter @NancyW <===. Here WE go, check the infographic below, please.
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[GM] Please check my blog posts below, who explain in detail:
When YOU read the above mentioned blog posts, YOU will realize that I mostly use the possibility to include the students, learners in the process of learning (student centered); THEY will go for “Learning by Doing” by working in a team and so taking THEIR OWN responsibility. THEY will be guided by a coach who helps THEM for “Learning To Learn” by asking them questions when (s)he is seeing that the token direction is going the wrong way with its ===> Proactive Thinking<===. As the internet doesn’t forget anything, a ===> Proactive Thinking <=== is a MUST! THE word ===> FAILURE <=== is on the wrong place here, sorry! YOU also will NOT see me using the word ===> FAILURE <=== as it is NOT a positive word, BETTER is ===> Learning by Doing <===, check below, please, the reason for WHY:
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Click the above image, please, to access the article.
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[GM] Possible questions could be: “Are YOU sure that it is the right way?“, “Think twice, please, isn’t there something missing?“… Well, I let YOU do some work ALSO, think on it what else could get used as questions and post them below please, with YOUR initials, thanks.
[MK] Mindy KIM (USA)
[MK] What changes could be made to improve the overall message?
[MK] You made a strong point here, where else could you apply the same idea?
[MK] Who is your audience?
[MK] Could you say the same thing using less words? Would your message be understood?
Greetings from Patrick Henry Middle School in Sioux Falls, SD.We are 6-8 middle school ICT class! We blog about Digital Citizenship & Internet Safety. Very excited to participate in the collaborative blog! Please look forward to new posts coming soon. You can find us on twitter @ICTPHMS as well.
The following linkhttp://mrkirsch.edublogs.org/2013/02/27/internet-safety-post-1-pd-2is an archived student contributions to our ICT blog. Topic was Internet Safety (8th graders). We are currently finished up our Digital Citizenship Unit.. more to come. Check the screenshot below, please.
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Student Centered Activity via @ICTPHMS. Creating #infographics on Internet Safety. Our class is going to be resubmitting their infographics during our Digital Citizenship Unit. They will have resources provided. The post will come Friday!
Post: 04/28/2015
The following is a link to my 7th grade student’s Video projects. The objective for the students was for them to create a video describing how “Technology Has Impacted their Lives” in either a positive or negative manner. The students were put in groups in order for them to film and describe their content. I really wanted the students to focus on how technology has become an integral part of everyday life; however can this become bad?? In essence, I wanted students to focus on the content people put on the internet and/or share information they should ==> Privacy. These videos were created by 7th grade students. The following videos depicting students do have permission from parents/guardians to be shown on the blog.
The following video is one of my students who was interviewed by one of our local TV stations who came I did a story within our my classroom. The story focused on Social Media, but with an emphasis on Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety. I share this; not as I method of “bragging” but demonstrating that teaching students to be aware of what they share online “digital footprint” could and will have a lasting affect on their future. My goal is that I never have to hear about one of my former students being “trapped” because of something they said, posted, and/or shared on social media or the internet.
Teaching Digital Citizenship through Authentic Practice ==> through the creation of infographics! The following (see link below) are my student(s) created infographics. They created their infographics on a specific topic of Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety and posted it on their edublog “social media platform.” Students are in 8th grade (12-13 year old).
The objective of the unit was ==> Students will create an infographic presenting student researched information on a specific Internet Safety Topic.
Learning about Digital Citizenship through comic strip creations. See an example below, please.
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Objective: The objective of the post is for students to learn about Digital Citizenship through stories.
Main Idea:
The following link is to my 8th grade students edublogs. The focus of this blog post come from Gust MEES. My students are creating comic strips utilizing the online website Pixton. The objective of the post is for students to learn about Digital Citizenship through stories. They are required to have a Digital Citizenship “dilemma” and at the end of their story they must have a positive outcome and/or resolution to the situation. There scenarios can be anything related to Digital Citizenship/Internet Safety. Please check the link below to see a gallery of my students finished Digital Citizenship comics.
Sample of my 8th grade Blog Prompt for next week. Check Below..
Who owns information?
Objective:
After discussion, students will understand basic concepts of intellectual property such as copyright and plagiarism. Students will understand the purpose of Creative Commons as well as how to find a Creative Commons license for an image on the Internet.
Rationale:
In order to be ethical users of online information, students must understand that they have responsibilities to owners of information and creative works online. They must understand the basics of those rights and strategies to find out how to properly and ethically use what they find online.
Focus question:
When you buy a song, is it really yours to use how you want? Are all images online available to use however you want?
Should creators of information, images, songs etc. be paid for their work?
Students will watch short video on monkey photo and discuss what rights monkey/photographer have in this specific case:
Post: 13/01/2015: Teaching Digital Citizenship using Digital Storytelling (comics).
This semester I wanted to teach Digital Citizenship in a different way with my middle schools students besides just “discussing” the positives & negatives via our blogs. Essentially, I wanted to incorporate our blogs as well as some educational technology platform. After collaboration with Gust M. via twitter I have decided to have my students (8th graders) blog about Digital Citizenship while creating comics (digital storytelling). The platform (many out there) I have decided to use ischogger.com. The following instructions are what I will be giving my students (thought I would share). Thank Gust for the collaboration. 🙂
Students will learn digital literacy and citizenship through combining comics and digital storytelling. In the first 1-2 weeks of the unit, students will research news stories about technology, internet safety, social media, and explore characteristics of comics, while learning about digital storytelling.
In weeks 3-4 students will design their digital stories via chogger, determine their characters. Who is the protagonist and antagonist of their story and what their main idea (origin of story) will be. The students will be instructed that their main idea has to incorporate an aspect of Digital Citizenship; such as social media safety, cyberbullying, identity theft, and scams etc.
Once each student as finished their digital story they will post this on the blogs where the class as access to them and we can learn about Digital Citizenship in a fun and collaborative atmosphere. Once the project is completed examples will be provided.
Post: 16/12/2014: Final Digital Citizenship Mr. Kirsch’s Blog Post (student reflections) Prompt below:
“Taking into account all of the articles & scenarios we have discussed within class this semester in ICT III what factor of Digital Citizenship are you going to take with you (think about social media, and future jobs)?
How can you be sure that you will not fall into the “trap” of posting information on the Internet/Social Media that may or may not hurt you in the future??”
Post: 10/12/2014: Teaching Digital Citizenship through Scenarios (Blog Posts).
Once I decided I was going to teach Digital Citizenship to my 6-8 middle school students it’s was brought to my attention of producing student reflections & insights through creating blog posts on teacher given scenarios. This is a great methodology that allows teachers to see students reflections, insights, as well as allowing students to collaborate with one another.
Storify is a visual way to tell social media stories using your Tweets, Facebook updates, pics, and other social media information. Storify is overwhelmingly a neat way to show how a story develops over social media — without you having to take screenshots and insert your own links.
Click the blue “Create a Story” button in the top right hand corner.
Look at the right side of the new screen where the icons of your favorite social media websites reside.
Click on any social media icon (like Twitter), then put in a username for that network you want to search. You’ll see all the recent Tweets from that person/hashtag/search query.
Now, start dragging content from the right hand panel from the social media networks you are searching into the left hand panel where you are telling your story. Add words or titles. You are finished!! A story told in text and pictures via social media updates.
Want an Example?
Here’s one of my classes using storify. It’s a recap of our Digital Citizenship Chats we did on our class blog.
Post: 25/11/2014
Student reflections (8th graders) in Mr. Kirsch’s ICT class on their Social Media Profiles verse their “hard copy” resume. Our class discussed how employers are looking at individuals Social Media profiles (first) before their actual resume. Teaching students to be aware of their online presence aka “Digital Footprints.” The link is provided below:
Our 8th grade (12-13 years old) ICT students just finished posting their reflections via #blogging on our topic: Social Media: Good or Bad? The objective is teaching students to be aware of what they share on Social Media, but at the same time realizing the benefits of Social Media as well. Check the link below, please:
The following link is directly from my class blog:http://mrkirsch.edublogs.org/2014/04/17/ksfy-story-on-cybersecurity . The story conduct by the news-station come from one of my 8th grade ICT classes. Our focus was teaching students CyberSecurity. Please check it out! I do have the rights to the video if anyone would like a copy.
[GM] Gust MEES (Luxembourg/Europe)
Added on 07/01/2015:
Ideas: using scenarios where the learners (students) play different roles to explain about GOOD and BAD behaviour on Social Media and let THEM blog about it. After the blogging THEY might ALSO create comics in a dialogue style where THEIR thoughts are included, such as I did in my blog post here ===> https://gustmeesen.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/why-ict-security-why-the-need-to-secure-a-computer/ <===.
I created these comics with dialogues with the following online program:
If you have the time, you might later create ALSO a magazine where the learners (students) bring in THEIR comics. Find some propositions of magazines below, please:
The above mentioned will engage YOUR learners (students), THEY will have FUN to learn and to create THEIR OWN stuff, it will boost creativity ALSO! When THEY are getting older THEY will remind WHAT THEY created as it was a pleasant learning moment in THEIR life and certainly THEY will be motivated for ===> Life-Long-Learning <=== 😉
Find below, please, WHAT skills the learners will need in the future. Thus as a reminder for getting NEW ideas 😉
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By analyzing WHAT WE are doing through the “Coaching” and “Collaboration“, YOU will realize that WE could cover ALL the abilities and skills needed from the above mentioned. BTW: the above screenshot is from the book of “Howard GARDNER” ===> Five Minds For The Future <===, a book any teacher should read to understand what is needed for the future. It should be considered as required reading! YOU will understand then ALSO WHY interdisciplinary teaching and learning is a MUST to be on a modern way and to catch up as quick as possible with the growing NEW pedagogy and technical possibilities.
Well, present authors are following each other since long through Social Media Twitter and through a tweet (Twitter Post) it happend, see screenshot below, please.
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Through curation and by using Social Media Twitter the authors met virtually (NEVER met in real world) because THEY are in a common “PLN” (Personal [Professional] Learning Network) and appreciated each other through THEIR posts on Twitter, blogs, skills and competency. THEY found a common point ===> Digital Citizen Ship <=== and want to share THEIR competency with YOU dear readers, students and learners.
The authors [GM], [MK], [ICTPHMS] will comment here THEIR experiences through the adventure of global collaboration which THEY experienced.
[GM] My advice (as I am used to it since ages ===> (2002-2003) <===:
Before starting such a BIG project, YES it is a BIG one as YOU are dealing withdifferent mentalities and cultures, is to set up rules up from the beginning to avoid BIG mistakes and not necessary stress for ALL.
This is called ===> Proactive THINKing <=== BETTER to use it as as YOU could come into situations without an issue when NOT doing it and WHO wants that!?
Concerning ===> Proactive THINKing <===: most people don’t know about WHAT it is, I will explain very shortly: deep thinking on what could happen in case of to avoid it up from the beginning. YOU could ALSO say: thinking of the “Worst case” who could happen and preparing to that it would NOT happen. OR, if YOU are smart, using Psychology for that it will happen (ONLY positive things…)!TIP: read ONLY the bold text to understand it quickly 😉
Check ALSO these links, please, who explain about “International Collaboration”:
The authors are from Europe (Luxembourg) and the USA, please check below:
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The authors: actually on October 11th, 2014: Gust MEES (Administrator), Mindy KIM (Editor), ICTPHMS (Editor)will be represented by THEIR initials such as:
Here below is a little reminder on the How-To WE are using this blog post, please respect it, thank You.
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Please click this link first before STARTING ===>Collaboration-Working As A Team (Especially On Global) And Connected Through Social Media===>Collaboration-Working As A Team (Especially On Global) And Connected Through Social Media<=== where YOU will find the necessary information on ===> How To <=== work on OUR global collaboration blog, thanks to respect this.
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Student Centered Initiatives
[GM] Well, that’s WHY I was inviting @ICTPHMS as THEY know the How-To by using curation and blogging with THEIR students. THEY will explain it to YOU here below 😉 My 8th grade ICT class blog about Internet Safety and Digital Citizenship with one another via edublogs. The goal is to teach the students how to communicate and share information on the Internet and/or Social Media! I post a blog topic for the week and my students have the rest of the week to respond with their thoughts as well as commenting on another’s blog posts as well. Trying to keep them from falling into the trap we see so much – people posting and sharing information they should NOT on the internet.
[MK]My classroom is a unique blend of students. We focus mainly on helping students develop communication and the belief in their abilities. To do this we have a classroom blog where we showcase our accomplishments, what we are working on, and students come up with conversation topics for our class and parents. Students review the blog and give their opinions. I am there to help them navigate.
Since then my class has taken time to build our writing skills, comprehension skills, and our ability to synthesize information. We are learning about shapes and where they are in nature and around them in everyday life. We will be reviewing these key ideas.
We begin lessons by learning important vocabulary and learning basic knowledge:
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This is what was added to the anchor chart after learning vocabulary, discussing characteristics of shapes, and looking for objects within the classroom that we use daily to connect to the 2D and 3D shapes. We talked about sides, corners, solid shapes, flat shapes, and started coming up with questions we wanted to answer throughout our shape study. Questions we have:
1). Why do circles have no sides?
2). How many squares make up a box?
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WHAT Is Already Realized From The Authors For A GOOD Digital CitizenShip Learning?
[ICTPHMS]
Online is a great place to compete for scholarships and it is also a great place to be disqualified from them. Find out how you can unknowingly lose scholarships.
Two Sides of the Coin
The Internet is a great source for finding generous scholarships. Fastweb.com is a popular scholarship vault holding 1.3 million scholarships for students that qualify. It is free. Students register and complete an online interview and scholarship applications will begin arriving soon after that.
Colleges are known for giving the largest scholarships and frequently for all four years of college. And, local organizations give scholarships to students for college—usually for the freshman year only.
These scholarships can be easily lost if students post inappropriate profiles on various sites like
Twitter
Facebook
MySpace
Colleges’ admission counselors are beginning to investigate students considered for scholarships beyond the usual letter of recommendations. They are beginning to Google in student names and see what they have posted on the Internet.
Google Search to Screen Students
In increasing numbers, colleges are using a Google search to screen students. Some check students randomly, some check only if students have been brought to their attention, and others are actively researching students online.
Air-Tight Online Profile
How can students make sure they are squeaky clean online?
Do not post anything to your site that would be morally or ethically questionable.
Never post personal information such as your address, daily schedule, or phone number.
Make your profiles private so only a selected group can view your information.
Don’t add “friends” you don’t personally know.
Ask friends to remove any photos of you that could be seen as unflattering.
Make sure they never use your name when they add you to their site.
Digital CitizenShip And Cyber Security (Internet Safety And Privacy Included)
The month of October is by tradition since years already the “Cyber Security Month” (#CyberSecMonth) in Europe and ALSO the “National Cyber Security Awareness Month” (#NCSAM) in the USA. WE will use this blog post to participate on it by OUR contributions. Check below, please, the message from the EU and ALSO from the US. YOU will realize the importance ofGOOD knowledge about Cyber Security then…
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Click the above image to access the article, please.
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Click the above image to access the article, please.
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[GM] I am getting often asked WHAT are the best ways about learning ===> Internet Safety and Cyber Security <===, well, here below my recommendations and advice. I will start FIRST to introduce YOU to a game before WE are starting to talk about the THEORY 😉 Click the image below to access the FREE game.
Do WE Still Have Privacy Rights In The Digital World!?
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According to latest press releases: Based on internal NSA documents, “Der Spiegel” reveals that the spy agency planted backdoors to access computers, hard drives, routers, and other devices from companies such as Cisco, Dell, Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor and Samsung.
[MK] Online perceptions, everyone can “learn” about who you are.
[MK] Future jobs, interactions, and networks are informed about you from your online “profile”.
[MK] Beware what you share, share what you would not mind the whole world knowing.
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How Can Education Help To Lower Cybercrime?
A GOOD “Digital Citizen” knows about the tricks that cyber crooks are using and so when leaving the school THEY will be on ===> Awareness <=== when meeting the working force. Thus meaning, THEY will be prepared NOT to fall into the traps from the cybercriminals on their office, reducing so the attack surface for their employer.
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Good to know, check the image left-hand sided. Check also the articles below for more deeper information, please:
OK, I hear YOU already saying: WHAT do WE have to do with THAT!? Actually a lot! A lot of cybercrime is done by using so called ===> Zombies <===, infected computers and smartphones who are connected together in a so called ===> Botnet <===. But read more below in the proposed articles, please:
Click the image above to access the video, please.
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WHO Are The Countries Who Host The Most Botnets!?
It is IMPORTANT to know who are the countries who host the MOST botnets (Botnet Control Servers), WHY!? Well, it is those countries who have to make BIG efforts to get rid of them and those countries SHOULD make MORE efforts in Educationto teach people aboutCyber Security.
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Click the above image, please, to access the article who explains in detail.
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How A Botnet Is Created
[Start TEXT from F-Secure] Bot programs can be planted on a machine or device in many ways. Machines or devices that have been infected by a bot are sometimes called ‘bots‘ themselves, or ‘zombies‘.
One common method for a bot program to get on a machine is when a harmful website the user is visiting silently looks for and exploits a vulnerability in the user’s system to install the bot on it. Other popular ways include sending the bot as a file attached to spam emails sent to the user, or as a program dropped from the payload of another malware.
Once the bot program is installed on the device, it will try to contact the website or server where it can retrieve instructions from the botherder. This site or server is known as the command-and-control (C&C) server.
An attacker with access to the C&C servers uses a client program to silently send instructions over the Internet (or another network) to the bot to perform various tasks, such as collecting data, monitoring the user’s actions and so on.
Commands can be issued to a single bot, or to all the bots in botnet. The attacker controlling the botnet is sometimes referred to as the ‘botherder‘, ‘operator’ or ‘controller’. [End TEXT from F-Secure]
Cyber Security Month, NCSAM and Cybercrime, screenshot lost money, visual cybersecurity screenshot + link,
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A NEVER Ending Story Which WE MUST Be Prepared For, But How!?
Technology is evolving mostly much more quick as MOST persons can follow and learn about it, so… We will create a “FAQ’s” list, a “Frequently Asked Questions” list together, which I will ask YOU to elaborate below please, thanks in advance.
Team, YOUR collaboration is required, please propose YOUR questions:
A: Students gain many academic and social skills from using many methods of demonstrating what they know. In the blog students will be able to capture their ideas, comments, and pictures of what they learned. They will have the ability to reflect on their work and their peers. These are advanced skills they will use beyond the classroom.
Q: Can my child do this?
A: Yes. Your child will learn step by step. They will utilize help from me and their peers to understand how they can communicate their ideas, ask questions, and comment on what they are learning about. They will learn internet safety, how the internet can be used to learn, and how it applies to them.
Q: How can I access the blog?
A: I have the password and username set for each student. You log in using the four steps and your child will be able to show you as well. If you have any questions ask your child first and then bring the questions to me for further information.
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[ICTPHMS] (Editor)
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[GM]Together with[MK] I created such a FAQ’s list which YOU can check below, please, to get an idea:
How Will WE Handle This Blog Post To Stay Up-To-Date?
[GM] Well, that isn’tTHAT difficult as most would think 😉 As the present authors here are ALL using ===> #Curation <===, they update already THEIR curation platform. SO… WHAT more easy then ONLY present below the links to THEIR curation which is permanently updated. Same for the blogs which the authors are maintaining… Check below, please:
L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
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The author Dan KIRSCHteaches courses in Information/Communications & Technology (ICT) and Career/Technical Education (CTE) for students in grades 6-8 at Patrick Henry Middle School in South Dakota, USA. Students in his classes focus on Social Media, Educational Technology, and most importantly Digital Citizenship. Currently, I have the priviledge of being a member of my school district’s ICT curriculum committee. We are rewriting & updating our ICT curriculum for students 6-8 for the 2015-2016 School Year.
Design The Learning Of YOUR Learners, Students AND YOURS
A GOOD preparation made is already the half way done! SO… Making a design on the How-To learning will give benefits for the educators AND the learners (students)! Education has since ages being behind about the How-To of “Learning” (waiting for “Research papers who come 10 years or more later…) as it still is in the mind of THEM as “Teaching” on an old fashioned manner! THE “Mind Set SHIFT” to the 21st Century is STILL NOT made by most and certainly NOT from people who have decisive power as THEY are NOT up to date with THEIR “Professional Development” who is very far behind! Check the below links, please, to find out WHAT is NEW in Education:
Click the above image, please, to access the article.
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Check ALSO a different way by using a ===> METRO-SUBWAY DESIGN <=== below, please.
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Click the above image, please, to access the article.
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Using The Synthesizing Mind NOW To Integrate The Whole Course In ONLY One Image
As already said above, WE will try to follow the “Synthesizing Mind” model to create OUR courses on a modern 21st Century manner. This allows us ALSO to show the course to the learners (students) even before the course(s) starts, the WHY was explained ALREADY here, please check it:
Below OUR example with the ===> METRO-SUBWAY DESIGN <===.
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Click the above image, please, to access the article. Move YOUR mouse cursor over the image then, YOU will see “black spots” that are links to the course.
Below OUR example with the ===> Flowchart DESIGN <===.
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Click the above image, please, to access the article. Move YOUR mouse cursor over the image then, YOU will see “black spots” that are links to the course.
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Click the above image, please, to access the article.
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Click the above image, please, to access the article.
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Click the above image, please, to access the article.
The above mentioned could get updated by more actually, such as: collaboration, coaching, TEAMTEACHing, etc. for 21st Century Skills (left hand bottom). In upper-right corner YOU could add as well: videos, animations, comics, Skype, Webquests, etc.
L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
.Stay tuned for next blog post(s) 😉
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Keywords necessary to create this blog post:Critical THINKing, Proactive THINKing, 21st Century skills, Mind Set SHIFT, adapting to the NEW, THINKing different, different approaches, holistic view, blended learning, learning in a team, team work, learning to learn, adapting learning to the real world, role playing, commerce, being the own boss, understanding WHY learning that, Deep THINKing, Deep LEARNing, PracTICE LEARNing, Coaching, Mentoring, FAQ’s, social, student centered, connecting the dots, autodidact, understanding, better learning, learning for real world, workforce needs, imagination, engagement, fun of learning, parents involvement, interest, adventure of learning, apps, budget, business, digital citizen, Cyber Security, Excel sheet budget, ThingLink images digital citizenship, Flowcharts,
On Thursday, September 4th there will be #SecChat who will explore the The Economic Impact Of Cybercrime and is an hour-long Twitter chat. I got invited through Twitter by @McAfeeBusiness
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After long reflection I decided to create a blog about my advice as I think that it would be very difficult to answer these questions by Tweets. There are TOO MANY links and information, as well as advice to share that in the mass of shared Tweets they would get lost 😉 This allows me then in the Tweet on the Chat to post ONLY one link, the link to this blog, where ALL the necessary information are included and I could concentrate on the other Tweets much more easy!
AND I could ALSO use this blog post for my FREE courses about CyberSecurity!
As a reminder (ALSO for me), here below the blog posts about WHAT would get discussed:
As nearly everyone is using a smartphone today so there is ALSO a MUST to consider a “BYOD-Policy” (Bring Your Own Device) as the use of smartphones could be a BIG security risk to the SMB’s as MOST employees don’t have any knowledge about the basics of Cyber-Security, even that there smartphones and/or tablets, laptops could be infected with virus, trojans, keylogger…
AND Today on September 1st 2014 I found this on the internet which I highly WELCOME! Coding in the curriculum for Five-Year-Old with introduction to CyberSecurity, GREAT!
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Click the image to access the article, please.
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Q3: WHY aren’t CyberSecurity professionals, especially CyberSecurity companies present at schools!?
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Q4: WHAT could get done to lowering Cybercrime?
Well, there are a lot of possibilities, who are MOSTLY related to ===> EDUCATION <=== and while using Social Media. Personally I use very often Twitter to send my advice to my readers. I started ages ago the ===> Friday Security Check Day <===, hashtag is ===> #FSCD <=== as areminder and to wake up people to get THE reflexes, check below, please.
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I would feel happy if anybody else would join in to the ===> #FSCD <=== to remind people and to give them good advice, and/or to retweet it, thanks.
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Concerning the ===> Internet Of Things <=== here below my advice. Would be good if discussed…
And for me the MOST IMPORTANT is to teach ===> Cyber Hygiene <=== in schools and in companies! THE user (us ALL) must have basics knowledge of Cyber Security as it is a national security issue and also a priority for the economy!
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National Cybersecurity Awareness Month Advocates Good “Cyber Hygiene”
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Check also what CIO.GOV An Official Website of the United States Government says: Surfing the web. Social networking. Shopping. Even the most innocuous online activities can pose a threat to our nation’s cybersecurity, and all Americans should play a part in protecting it.
DYK: #ProactiveTHINKing can GET used on 2 ways? 1 way to avoid the worst, another way 2 make things happen by knowing habits, behavior😉
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How To Use Curation For Learning and Even Teaching
I will give you some visual examples below who show you, so you can have a direct impression of it. No need to talk too much (what most of the teachers and educators do, sorry…), we go straight to the point…
A security by 100% doesn’t exist and probably NEVER will exist (I am sure about THAT!) , remind the human behavior…, and ALSO the bugs in programming code of software!
There is one word which any SMB MUST remember ===> Proactive THINKing <===, anything is changing that quick that nobody could act mostly in time!
Stay informed about what is happening on a daily base about Cyber-Security to get prepared for the UNKNOWN! It’s the letter “I” in “ICT“, which means “Information“! Once NEW information gathered which isn’t known YET by the employees, then comes the letter “C“, which means “Communication“! Inform YOUR employees and ICT-Staff as soon as possible, remember that in the “Security Chain” anyone MUST be strong!
===> THE MOST IMPORTANT when making training is to NOT use TOO MUCH technology words so that the employees might be able to UNDERSTAND! <===
Since already 1999 I was publishing online about the risks and Cyber Security and by seeing the unwillingness of people to learn about it I was going for ===> #DeepTHINKing <=== about WHAT could get done, here below my ideas:
I encourage my readers and followers from Twitter to be ===> lurkers <=== on the #SecChat to learn about it, thanks.
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Keywords necessary for me to create this blog post: economy, CyberSecurity, CyberCrime, InternetSafety, NAIVETY, Ignorance, data loss, data breaches, reputation, confidence, trust, intellectual property, CyberHygiene, RESPONSIBILITY, Proactive Thinking,
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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
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The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
ONLY Internet-Safety And NO Basics Of Cyber-Security Education In Schools!?
Government and Education MUST be digital illiterates when NOT accepting that it is time for TEACHing the basics of Cyber-Security! By reading the reports of experts from the professional companies from Cyber-Security protection software, one MUST accept the facts that Cyber-Crime is evolving at a very rapid rate! Cyber-criminals learned How-To trick the users and THEY are inventing every day NEW tricks to trick THEM (US ALL), BUT Education and ALSO the Government are NOT YET ready to counter such actions!
WE have to ACCEPT that (that are facts!!!) 20% of all malware ever created appeared in 2013 and THAT there are 31.53 % infected computers worldwide!!!That MUST give people a kick for Deep-Thinking! In 2013 alone, cyber-criminals created and distributed 20 percent of all malware that has ever existed, with a total of 30 million new malicious strains in circulation, at an average of 82,000 per day. Check article below, please:
Isn’t it time to introduce in Schools as a MAIN core ===> LEARNing the basics of Cyber-Security <=== as WE are ALL using computers and ===> BYOD <=== (Bring Your Own Device) and actually ALSO using Mobile-LEARNing and e-LEARNing!? WE can’t anymore bury the heads in the sand and NOT wanting to see the problems!THE reality is there and it can’t get fought ONLY by giving the IT-Admin of the school THATresponsibility, that is pure NONSENSE and a Middle Ages mentality, excuse-me, please!
==========> WE are ALL responsible for a secure internet! <==========
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How Could This Be Realized And Up From Which Age?
I suggest to teach “Internet-Safety” up from the age of 5 years old and the basics of “Cyber-Security“ to the kids up from the early age, 8 years old! THEY would be able to understand how to get used to reflexes! These reflexes SHOULD get repeated once a week. I suggest the Friday as I started it ages ago already on Social-Media Twitter. It is called the ===> Friday Security Check Day <=== and the Hashtag for it is ===> #FSCD <=== SO, as it is under the age of the terms of use from Twitter, parents need to get involved as well to help THEIR kids to become GOOD “Digital Citizen” and by the same way the parents will learn also and with that COLLABORATION WE are on the winning side to make the internet a more secure place!Everybody will profit from it 😉
======> Safer Internet Day: Children need educating from age of 5, say campaigners <======
Check upper corner on right-hand side, there is “Digital Security” mentioned 😉 It should actually be ===> Cyber-Security <===
BUT anyway, it is THE BEST explication I ever have seen about “Digital Citizenship“!!!
SO… WHAT’S About Basic Cyber-Security Knowledge NOW As It Is Mentioned As Well!?
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That’s actually the easiest part of it, MOST of YOU think that it is the MOST difficult one, BUT it isn’t at ALL 😉 It’s ONLY based on reflexes and a one-time installation of software on YOUR computers (Smartphones included…). Please check my following blog posts and YOU will see how easy it is:
==========> A Proactive-THINKing and Critical-THINKing will get created which is a MUST in a modern, technology driven society!!! <==========
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YOU should ALSO be interested about ===> Youth Leadership and Students Voice <=== where YOUR students, learners will take themselves the responsibility for THEIR future, check below, please:
L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
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Keywords, necessary for me to create this blog post: Collaboration, parents, teachers, kids, students, learners, weekly reflex, #FSCD, Updates more important than Anti-Virus, Mind-Set-SHIFT, a lot of very quick changes, adapting, Proactive-Thinking, analyzing the facts, brain upgrade and NOT ONLY computer upgrade, How could this be done?, ideas, most malware hosted in…, NSA, Privacy, Cyber-espionage, looking for European hosted cloud services, F-Secure,
WHO Are The Countries With Most Hosted Malware Servers And OTHER Cyber-Problems!?
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To understand the impact of Cyber-Security, Cyber-Crime, Cyber-Attacks, Spam, on a global view it is important to know which countries are involved. WE will see this through the below published graphics and related articles by professional companies. Those articles and graphics will get presented by year publishing and so making it possible to see if there is an improvement (if so…). WE will get the possibility ALSO to learn about the mentioned, such as Spam, web site vulnerability scan , botnet, and…
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2015: “Dirty Dozen” SPAMPIONSHIP
So here are the results for Q1 (January-February-March 2015) of 2015.
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Click on above image, please, to access the article.
2014: “Dirty Dozen” SPAMPIONSHIP
So here are the results for Q3 (July, August, September) of 2014.
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Click the image above to access the article from SOPHOS.
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2013: Top 10 Countries with the Most Number of Botnet C&C Servers
[START Text from SOPHOS] At the end of each calendar quarter, we dig into our spam databases and calculate each country’s scores in a league table we jokingly call the SPAMPIONSHIP.
Unlike conventional sporting events such as the Superbowl, the Six Nations or the Bundesliga, the Spampionship is one title that no team wants to win. [END Text from SOPHOS]
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Click image to read the article.
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Click image to read the article.
WHAT YOU Should Know About Spam
I will use again the text from SOPHOS, as it explains BEST what SPAM is:
Spam is almost always sent by regular computers – in other words, by desktop or laptop computers at home or at work – rather than by dedicated email servers.
This blog post will get updated as soon as there will be new information.
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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
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The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
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Keywords necessary for me to remember about to create this blog post: Spam, Cyber-Security, Web-Attacks, related links, curation, Malware, Malware-Hosting countries, knowledge links, Cyber-Espionage, Privacy…
First of all, let me please, say this: WE get supplied with NEW technology (commercial way…) without getting any advice on How-To use it, that is MY personal complain about it! In the 21st Century this SHOULD be anyway the case, the problems are known since ages and the manufacturers SHOULD provide to the customers a comprehensible guide ONLINE (less costs than a printed version…) about how customers have to deal with slowing down PC’s and BEST protection for Cyber-Security issues, WE are NOT living anymore in the Middle-Ages 😉 In the 21st Century WE MUST go for Proactive-THINKing and that is ALSO a RESPONSIBILITY for the manufacturers as:
===> WE are ALL responsible for a more secure internet!!! <===
SO… Sorry, this had to get said as WE have ALL to work more together as WE are using Social-Media as well, remember the word SOCIAL in it! Let us go now for it to explain the possibilities (there are several…) for a slow PC…
Infected PC through Malware (an online Check will reveal mostly…)
WE will discuss this in the sections below, step by step with different programs to clean the PC.
NOT enough space left on the hard disk (hard disk is full!!!)
Press simultaneously the “Windows logo Key” and the “letter [E]“.
ONLY way is to buy a NEW one, copy the existing stuff from the old one to the new one…
NOT enough Memory available!
PC needs long time to START:
Check YOUR START-UP programs… ONLY for advanced users!!!
Important notice: to know the reason WHY a PC is slowing down, a few questions need to get asked to find the right solution, follow the step-by-step guide below, please… Some ore necessary in case of YOU can’t resolve YOUR problem with the proposed FREEWARE (this could be possible also…) to post on internet help forums…
But first WE will go for Praxis with different FREEWARE tools, such as (download them, please):
WE will see, by using the above mentioned FREEWARE tools, that NONE of them can do the job ALONE, YOU will see this later… YOU will see ALSO, that after having used them ALL that YOUR PC will have accelerated for good!
******************************************************************************************************************************* VERY IMPORTANT: make sure that YOU have made an UPDATE of YOUR OS before any changes!!!
From my year long experience, most people even don’t know what “Operating System” (OS) and how much Memory is installed, NOR the size of the hard disk, here an easy way to find it out:
Press simultaneously the “Windows logo Key” and the “Pause Key [Break]”.
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YOU will see then a pop-up window showing ALL the necessary information, similar to the screenshot below…
2nd Step: Delete The Browser Cache And The Browser History
About the Browser Cache
[START Text from New York University] In order to speed up web browsing, browsers are designed to download web pages and store them on your computer in an area called the cache (pronounced cash). When you visit the same page for a second time, the browser speeds up the display time by loading the pages locally from the cache instead of downloading everything again. This sometimes results in less than current versions of web pages being displayed, along with problems on registration and authentication pages.
Over time, this process may actually begin to slow down your browser as large amounts of data are saved to your hard drive. A cache does not empty itself and anyone who gains access to your computer can tell from these files what websites you have visited. To make matters worse, this caching is not limited to pages, but can also include login IDs, passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.
Clearing your cache can significantly improve the speed and performance of your browser and ensures that anyone who uses the same computer and browser after you (particularly on public computers) will not see your private information.
===> It’s a good habit to clear your cache from time to time. <=== [END Text from New York University]
As described already WE will try out different FREEWARE tools, which are mostly well known over the years to clean our PC, WE will start with CCleaner, check below for download link, please:
Above screenshot shows (after scanning) 41, 4MB of unnecessary stuff could get removed and deleted…
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As YOU might have seen on the left hand side navigation of the program, there is also a button “Registry“. It is possible to scan ALSO the “Registry” and to delete orphan entries, do so by clicking that button, check screenshot below…
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Use Freeware Tools To Clean Your PC: 2. Sweepi
As mentioned above, WE will use different FREE programs one after each other to find out about the performance of each one and ALSO to maximize the cleaning. Of course I know it already, BUT YOU should find it out as well as ALSO this will convince some hardliners that CCleaner isn’t the best existing program and that one program alone isn’t enough for a deep cleaning of the PC!
So, first download the program at following address ===> Sweepi <=== and install it! Launch the scan and wait till YOU will see the below result.
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The below window will get displayed now. Click on the button “Reboot“. The important about this action is that the “index.dat” files will get deleted and overwritten…
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Conclusion: CCleaner found 41, 4MB of unnecessary stuff and NOW after the scan of CCleaner, Sweepi found STILL 438MB!!! Sweepi can do actually even more, check here ===> http://www.sweepi.com/index.php/tools/ <===
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3d Step: Defragmentation Of The Harddisk
What is “Fragmentation” and WHY is “Defragmentation” A MUST?
[Start TEXT from Microsoft] Disk defragmentation is the process of consolidating fragmented data on a volume (such as a hard disk or a storage device) so it will work more efficiently.
Fragmentation happens to a volume over time as you save, change, or delete files. The changes that you save to a file are often stored in a different place on the volume than the original file. This doesn’t change where the file appears in Windows—only where the bits of information that make up the file are stored on the actual volume. Over time, both the file and the volume itself become fragmented, and your computer slows down as it has to look in different places to open a single file. [END TEXT from Microsoft]
Windows PC’s have a FREE build in “Disk Defragmenter“, check below, please:
In OUR example below, WE will use the FREE “iObit SmartDefrag” program…
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As YOU can see there are a lot of “red squares” shown, that is fragmented space, in this case: it took about 2.48%, a lot! Defragmentation is required by +/- 1% of fragmentation!
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After defragmentation the “red squares“, the fragmention, have disappeared and the hard disk is now ONLY on 0.73%, acceptable!
WE will STOP here, there is actually even more, BUT WE will discuss this in another post; such as Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malware Check! With the proposed programs here YOU will be able to make YOUR PC running more quick anyway…
OK, I know, YOU are curious 😉 SO… For those who will straight go further already NOW, please check the following links:
L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
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Keywords reminding me about what I have to post: Sweepi, CCleaner, Online Antivirus Check, temporary folders, Memory, Malware Check, Spyware Check, visited websites in cache, NOT more than 1 Antivirus, deleting Windows restore points, Backup, Wise Care 365, Registry Cleaner, Disk Defragmentation, Browser Cache, index.dat file…
Are WE Becoming Too Paranoid About Cyber-Security?
This is a question I get asked very often, and I got remembered again by my online friend Doug PETERSON ===> @dougpete <=== about it on a Social-Media conversation (BTW: it’s called a “convo” on Twitter) on Twitter, check below please:
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SO… As I can’t answer Doug’s very good question on a Twitter based conversation, as it would be too long, I took the challenge to create a new blog post here. And actually it inspired me to create a series of new blog posts with the TOPIC ===> Often Asked Questions:… <=== This was the introduction, now let us go for it…
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Shouldn’t WE Have A bit Of Paranoia Anyway!?
A good question back, isn’t it? My direct answer to this would be, YES! A healthy paranoia attitude, why!? Let us try to go a bit for Deep-THINKing if YOU permit 😉 Let us ALSO try to make a comparison between the Real-World and the Virtual-World (the internet). WHEN YOU take the time to compare both worlds YOU would find out that there really few differences, apart that the internet is technology driven and that WE connect global on instantly actions…
===> BUT: Let us first admit that the Real-World and the Virtual-World have MORE positive attributes than negative ones!!! <===
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BUT ALSO: WE have to accept THAT WE are NOT gods, and therefore WE are ALSO on a status as ===> Nobody-Is-Perfect!!! <===
ALSO negative things as present in the Real-World are ALSO present in the Virtual-World, as WE copy ourselves ONLY into the Virtual-World withALL OUR character…
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Let us go for an ===> Visual walk <=== on what the internet is, try to follow me please: YOU know what it means driving a car on the High wayand the ===> Responsibility <=== about it, right!? YOU are driving together with hundreds of OTHERS on the same lane, OK? SO… NOW imagine (that is REALITY, anyway…), driving with millions together on the same===> High Way <=== on a virtual view! Did I say virtual, YES! And that is exactly what happens WHEN YOU are ONLINE! YOU are driving virtually (YOUR computer…) with OTHERS on THE same Data-High-Way without seeing it, BUT that is REALITY!
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WHAT do the Governments worldwide say!? Check below, please:
Coming back to the negative things as THEY are present in both worlds, let us be honest, as new born people into the Virtual-World (mostly…), WE have to acknowledge THAT there is a STRONG (actually on 2014) dominance of the bad boys, the criminal ones!!! Don’t believe me? BETTER to check out the shown resources below, please:
Please, take YOUR time to UNDERSTAND the shown resources above, OTHERWISE YOU won’t get THEIR importance and YOU will go on with YOUR same question, which is NOT the goal of this blog post anyway! YOU SHOULD read it to get the message and the answer to YOUR question 😉 To give YOU an answer to YOUR question, the BEST way is to read about it and to go for Deep-THINKing anyway, NO ONE can convince YOU about WHAT YOU don’t want to accept, so build YOUR own Mentality about it through the published facts 😉
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Meanwhile listen to the music below… Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)
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As the title of the music video tells us “Bridge Over Troubled Waters“, it is exactly THAT what this blog post wants to bring over! Trying to get YOU convinced about the present dangers , to make YOU aware about the present dangers (OH YES, there are MORE as YOU might expect…) and to SHOW YOU as well WHERE those dangers are and making YOU fit to fight against THOSE dangers, to make YOU responsible “Digital-Citizens“! YES, the word RESPONSIBILITY is being used again, YOU SHOULD remember it 😉
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I invite YOU ALSO to read my following blog posts as well, please:
WHEN coming back to the TOPIC ===> Are WE Becoming Too Paranoid About Cyber-Security? <=== I think that YOU, after reading the above mentioned, that YOUR question is answered and that YOU go for a ===> Community-Mentality <=== as it is THIS what would fight against the bad boys…
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Keywords: often asked questions, what do people think about Cyber-Security, Mac Mentality, I installed Antivirus & Firewall, I am secure, Cyber-Security is ONLY for paranoia people, Cyber-Security is ONLY a hype, Sharing Responsibility, community, Critical Thinking, Proactive Thinking, any device as Cyber-Weapon possibility, patriotism, holistic view, selfish mentality, community mentality, Technology and maintenance as well as Safety and Security, Education’s Responsibility, everybody’s Responsibility, Curation about Cyber-Security, it’s ONLY ALL about commercial to sell…, Cyber-Espionage, NEUTRALITY of the internet?, Privacy, 20th Century Mentality expressed through 21st Century Technology,
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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
What Is Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs)? And How-To Remove Them.
“Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP)” are a piece of software that is also downloaded when a user downloads a specific program or application. THEY are similar to malware in that it will cause problems when it is downloaded and installed. THEY can be very embarrassing as one doesn’t get rid of them with normal tools, one needs definitely to use special tools to remove them.
Freeware publishers offer their products for free, but bundle them with PUPs in order to earn revenue and users are unaware of these additional installations because ===> they do not read agreements thoroughly. <===
WE will take an practical example while WE are downloading a specific FREEWARE program and discuss on it on How-To. Here below on example where YOU MUST take care when downloading FREEWARE:
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As YOU might see in above screenshot there are pre-installed PUPs integrated, uncheck these boxes before YOU click the “Next” button!
Once the software installed, I recommend to shut down the PC and to restart it. If there is STILL a PUP on YOUR PC YOU will see it then! BUT, it isn’t a 100% sure way to know if so, BETTER is to install a FREEWARE program (without PUPs) to check the PC, find THEM and to remove THEM! WE will see this in the section below…
I tried out a lot of solutions over the years and this one, the one WE will describe below, gave me the best results to remove ONLY the PUPs! WE will discuss, in an other section as well, How-To prevent that PUPs get installed. SO, before installing and running the test of that program, let me give YOU an advice, please: depending on how many programs YOU have installed on YOUR PC the test and removing process could take about 30 minutes; the time YOU can’t work anymore with YOUR PC. Make sure when YOU do this task to have foreseen something else to do. Some possibilities are, running the program before a meal, a shower, before shopping, and… YOU decide 😉 As WE are using the download page from Bleeping Computer, I will use their text as well…
BleepingComputer Review:
Junkware Removal Tool is a security utility that searches for and removes common adware, toolbars, and potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) from your computer. A common tactics among freeware publishers is to offer their products for free, but bundle them with PUPs in order to earn revenue. This tool will help you remove these types of programs.
Junkware Removal Tool has the ability to remove the following types of programs:
Ask Toolbar
Babylon
Browser Manager
Claro / iSearch
Conduit
Coupon Printer for Windows
Crossrider
Facemoods / Funmoods
iLivid
IncrediBar
MyWebSearch
Searchqu
Web Assistant
When run, Junkware Removal Tool will remove all traces of these programs including their files, Registry keys, and folders.
So let us go now and download this program at following address:
Once having installed the program and started it, it will look like this (see screenshot). YOU don’t have to fear as well to lose some programs as the program creates ALSO a “Registry Backup”!
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As mentioned already above, it will take time, so wait and see 😉 YOU will get later provided a detailed report about what was removed, report which YOU could save, see screenshot below, please.
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How-To Prevent The Installation Of PUPs?
SO… NOW WE know How-To remove those unwanted, stressing programs, BUT doesn’t there are existing programs who help us to protect against those PUPs? YES, there is actually one very good program existing since ages and STILL developed, who makes a great job on preventing and ALSO on removing PUPs, Adware, Spyware, and… It is called “SpyBot Search&Destroy”
Spybot for private use
Why use the Free Edition?
If all you require is to be able to scan and remove malware and rootkits from your system. Or if you want to protect your PC by immunizing your browser and hosts file, the ‘Free Edition’ is the choice for you. If you are a more experienced user you can also check various ‘autostart’ locations using the ‘Startup Tools’. Spybot 2 can scan single files or specific folders and unlike other software it doesn’t matter if the file is located on your local drives or on a network share. Spybot 2 comes with its own whitelist which helps to identify if files are legitimate or not. This useful addition helps to speed up the scan. Even though this fully functioning product is free of charge you can still get free support by emailing our support team.
SO… Let us go to download it from the original website of its creator here:
I recommend to use the FREEWARE version, but anyway YOU might chose what YOU want…
SO… Once installed it will look like this, see screenshot below, please.
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Once started, the first step to do is to look for up updates by clicking on the button “Search for Updates” (see screenshot). Once the Updates downloaded click the button “Check for problems“, see screenshot below, please.
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The program will get launched (this will take some time, be patient…) and meanwhile YOU STILL can work with YOUR PC, but it will slow down…
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Check the screenshot below to find out how the scanning process looks and YOU will see ALSO that YOU can use some tutorials through the scan window, in the “Help” menu, read carefully 😉
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Once the scan is finished, WE will see the results, check screenshot, please.
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If there were some infections, WE will see this (see screenshot below, please).
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YOU need NOW to click the button “Fix selected problems” and the found problems will get removed.
BUT, there is STILL something more and very smart to do, using the “Immunize” function! This allows YOU to get a passive protection as well, see text here, please ===> Spybot – Search & Destroy offers the Immunization – a feature to allow you to immunize your computer against certain pieces of spyware. It also allows you to use native browser settings to block cookies, malware installations, bad websites and other threats via ActiveX. SDHelper is an Internet Explorer plugin that adds a second layer for blocking threats. While the Permanent Immunity blocks installers by their ActiveX ID, this one blocks anything that should come through by different aspects.
Anything else WE could do? Of course, I invite YOU to read my following blog posts:
L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).
The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
WHO is THE user who’s NOT in the interest of Cyber-Security programs BUT WHO is THE most important!?
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THIS is a question which I have for more than 12 years in my memory and WHICH I didn’t have thecourage to speak out loudly! BUT NOW I do, let’s go. I have followed ALL possible actions from Governments worldwide and Europe actions and participated ALSO as an individual, as an individual who is involved in advisory boards from the Luxembourg Government, such as:
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L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness andSecurityEnhancementStructure).The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).
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I am NOT complaining about WHAT those organisations made, which is very “THUMBS UP“, BUT it isn’t enough, sorry! WE forgot ALL to bring in the daily “USER”!!! The “daily users” are people like moms, seniors and adults! That is the part of the populationwho are out of school since very long, BUT THEY also need to get educated about Cyber-Security and Internet-Safety, THEY are ALSO “Digital Citizens“! There ===> MUST be <=== special programs created for that part of the population!
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In my country Luxembourg (Europe) WE start such a program this year through BEESECURE(co funded by the European Union), check below, please…
With the internet WE are going ===> global<=== and that is WHY I want to share such good practices with YOU 😉 One can learn from each other to make this place (internet) more secure! Together WE stand STRONG!
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Keywords (as a reminder for me) to create this blog post: adults, seniors, NO courses for adults, for seniors about Cybersecurity, EU, Europe, privacy, America NR.1 in Spam
Check my #curation to find best articles, blogs and courses about #education #itsecurity #CyberSecurity #EdCollCoach #GlobalEDU #cyberbullying, #AR #RA #augmentedreality #health #science #QR #qrcodes in EN, FR, DE…
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The first steps before the kids go online are to protect the computer and Smartphone(s) at its BEST as possible to make sure that a BAD click will NOT become a catastrophe! Second step is to talk to the kids about the dangers of the internet and related with the use of the computer and the tablets, Smartphones and about the dangers of Social Media.
I will divide the tasks through a whole week, so it will be very easy for you to find the necessary time to achieve them, those who have the necessary time can, of course, achieve more tasks…
Protect yourself on public WiFi: ALL your data could get seen when not taken the right precautions on a public WiFi Access (HotSpot)…
Click the above image to access the article, please.
WHAT’S THE appropriate age for kids to start learning about InternetSafety and CyberSecurity? A question I get asked very often. Well, let us say it this way: when kids understand what is BAD and GOOD, that will be the perfect timing to start to teach them about the dangers of the internet and how to get the right reflexes. YES, reflexes they can learn them easily, NO Technic of course as they wouldn’t understand it! Experts say that the right age would be 5 years old, check the link below, please:
Use a psychological trick to remember your family members about the MUST to take care about their weekly CyberHygiene, the reflex to learn, and play the song “The Reflex-Duran Duran”. They will get used to it, and every time they hear the song they would know that there is something special to do, such as NEW “Updates“! Easy to use, isn’t it 😉
Click the above image to access the document.
EDU: Digital CitiZENship, CyberSecurity, eSkills, Modern EDU by Gust MEES 