Online Safety

Welcome to Blue 2.0!

Over the next few weeks, we'll all be learning from each other about exciting technologies that we can use in our professional and personal lives. If the Queen of England can post videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel), then so can you! But before we get started, let's first cover a few pointers on online safety...

1. Never give your password to anyone, or post your password on a website or blog.
2. Know who you are dealing with online.
3. Minimize the personal information you give out online.
4. Use strong passwords that include letters, numbers and symbols.
5. Don't click on links within e-mails that ask for personal information, including account numbers and PINs. This helps prevents "phishing," an effort by identity thieves to trick users into giving personal information. Reputable companies and organizations will never ask for sensitive information via e-mail.
6. Activate pop-up blocking. Besides being annoying, pop-ups are often forms of "spyware" that can collect personal information or change your computer's configuration.

To learn more, visit these sites...

OnGuard Online
http://onguardonline.gov/index.html
Tips from the Federal Trade Commission on a wide variety of online safety topics including online auctions and shopping, social networking, identity theft, and more.

National Cyber Security Alliance
http://staysafeonline.org/
Stay Safe Online provides online safety tools and resources from the NCSA, which has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Trade Commission, and other private-sector organizations.

WiredSafety.org
http://www.wiredsafety.org/safety/index.html
A nonprofit, volunteer-run organization offering information on cyberstalking, identity theft, instant messaging, online scams, chat rooms, music downloading, etc.

Kids' Rules for Online Safety from SafeKids.com http://www.safekids.com/kidsrules.htm

As you work through each activity, please keep in mind that this is a self-directed program. This means that while we won't be having any traditional instruction sessions, you are welcome (and encouraged) to ask for help from co-workers, your student workers, or any of the Blue 2.0 work group (see Participants).

Let's get started!

--Jen