Why K–12 Students Need to Be Taught to Guard Their Data Online | #MakerEducation
Important read from EdTech Magazine.
A recent McAfee survey of 1,000 college students and recent graduates ages 18 to 25 revealed some startling statistics on how little this tech-savvy cohort knows about data security.
As many as 80 percent of students surveyed said either they or a friend or family member had been affected by a cyberattack. Despite that, 43 percent said they believed that they wouldn’t ever be a victim of a cybercrime. The consequence? Shockingly poor data hygiene. Just over half (53 percent) of students surveyed had security software on their computers, only 37 percent had smartphone protection and an even lower number, 14 percent, had some security installed on their tablets.
It seems schools haven’t taught students how — or why — to keep personal information safe. McAfee found that that only 36 percent of students said that they learned about personal data safety through school resources. And with the increasing use of mobile phones, computers and tablets in K–12 institutions, it’s imperative that good data hygiene is inculcated in students far before they reach college.