Internet Safety

Internet Safety is the new Neighborhood Watch. Near the end of the 1960s, crime rates rose in many neighborhoods across the United States. The National Sheriff’s Association created the National Neighborhood Watch Program in 1972 to involve citizens in protecting their neighborhoods (NNW, n.d., para 2). The Neighborhood Watch has since become part of our culture. As the internet grew, so too did its potential for harming groups and individuals. Internet groupings are our modern neighborhoods. How do we keep them safe?


A Google search for “internet safety” returns more than four million results. The recurring theme of those search results is, how to keep our children safe from online predation. Providers of training help adults teach children how to be safe online. Dian Schaffhauser wrote an article this year about a program in Texas that is teaching parents and schools how to keep their children out of online trouble (2019). Conversations associated with the term “internet safety” do not address the more significant problem. Most adults do not practice what they are presumably teaching our youth. Adults expect to be kept safe by the providers of their internet content.

Cybersecurity helps to keep adults safe from online perils. The term implies safety, but its methods are not accessible to the computing public. Standard business practice is to either employ cybersecurity staff or outsource the functions to protect information capital. Expanding legislation for data security places more and more responsibility on business to keep their customers’ data safe and private. Corporations implementing cybersecurity solutions are not enough. We need to expand the conversation around Internet Safety to include elements of cybersecurity. Imagine virtual neighborhoods looking out for each other to fill the gap between Internet Safety (its current scope) and cybersecurity.

Everyone should learn how to access all the internet has to offer safely. Here is a primer for your Internet Safety awareness journey.

• Computer hardware, operating systems, programming languages, and software applications are fundamental components of information technology. Networks enable these components to interoperate. The exchange of information between systems and across devices must be moderated to prevent data losses and unauthorized access. If you understand these basics, you are safer already. If not, there are many sources besides my blog to learn about them. I encourage you to do so.

• It is interesting to know the history of computing, but not a prerequisite to Internet Safety. Dishonesty predates computers so we should not be surprised that scams and abuse are prevalent online. In the 1990s the world was optimistic about the internet. Four decades of hard experience drove the change from optimism to cautious enthusiasm. The results of criminal behavior are the inherent costs of the benefits we derive from computer science and information technology. Learning and practicing Internet Safety is how we can mitigate those costs.

• Modern computing systems have increased processing power, storage, and memory, allowing background processes to run unnoticed. Antivirus software used to tax a computer system’s resources so much it resulted in people not using it. Antivirus software can now do its job with no reduction in computer performance. Keeping your antivirus software up-to-date is the single most effective way to keep your computer safe on the internet.

• Computer software vendors use programming languages to design applications for protecting computer systems. They use different methods of monitoring program execution to prevent malicious code from interfering with safe computing. Some of these methods are part of the operating system and do not require you to know about them or how they work. A lot of time and effort go into keeping you safe from previously identified threats. Learning Internet Safety will increase your vigilance and reduce the chances of damage to your system.

• Application software has become more stable and safe over time. When problems occur, they are addressed and cataloged as guidance for future revisions. Office productivity software is used to create and disseminate training materials to promote safe computing.

• The storage of information in databases has become an economic engine for advertising, making information collected from you valuable when analyzed on a massive scale. The management of that collected data is becoming more regulated, but legislation cannot keep up with innovation. To stay safe on the internet, be aware of what information you share and with whom. Learn about data privacy and manage your online presence carefully.

• Known methods of attack are prevented by network devices designed to block access by malicious code or the identified behaviors of bad actors. Leveraging the capabilities of network hardware with active filtering improves Internet Safety. Cisco makes network equipment and provides dedicated applications such as OpenDNS Family Shield and OpenDNS Home to consumers at no cost (Cisco, n.d.).

If you learn one new thing from reading this article, then it will have been worth the time it took to research and write it. Encourage your friends and family to think about Internet Safety in the broader context of online communities watching out for each other. Be safe.

References

Cisco. (n.d.). opendns.org. Home internet security. Retrieved from www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/

National Neighborhood Watch. (n.d.). nnw.org. Our history. Retrieved from www.nnw.org/our-history/

SCHAFFHAUSER, D. (2019). Helping Parents LEARN TECH Too. T H E Journal, 46(2), 26. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid&custid=s8856897&db=f5h&AN=136251971&site=ehost-live