There is an ongoing effort over at Australia to teach cyber-security to five-year-old kids. I am sure that it will be no surprise to anyone who knows me that I think that this is a brilliant idea. Security is a mindset and the earlier we can teach kids about the pitfalls and dangers online, the safer they will be online.
Our generation grew up with the internet and still I see that most people are not that serious about security. I had a long argument/discussion with Jani on why she had to have a passcode for her phone and why she couldn’t use the same password for everything. Now she understands what I was talking about and uses a password manager with unique password for each account. But that is not the same with my parents, I still have not managed to convince them to use a password manager. 🙁
A little while ago I was talking to mom and she commented that my nephew Vir doesn’t share his account passwords with anyone and when my mom is typing her password he looks away. I credit Vinit for teaching him this and am really happy about it. This is what you get when a kid is taught about security from the get go. Instead of learning it later as an add on. Another year or so and I will have him start using a password manager as well.
Habits learnt as a kid are really hard to unlearn and that is why I think it is really important that we get to kids as early as possible and teach them about cyber security. I mean we already teach them regular security and safety so why not cyber security and safety? Remember, they are spending a lot more time on the computer and the internet than we ever did and they need to be taught how to be careful online.
Well this is all for now. Will post more later.
– Suramya