ISC2 members and cybersecurity practitioners globally donate their time and expertise to help educate and inform their local communities, ensuring that every day, not just February 11, is a safer internet day for our online society. Find out how you can help this effort.
Today is Safer Internet Day, the worldwide day of awareness for internet safety. The themes for this year’s awareness day include “protecting yourself and others from online scams” and “together for a better internet”.
Scams can take many forms and target anyone. While many people are confident that they would be able to spot an online scammer, the truth is that such scams are only increasing in their sophistication and their ability to be convincing and hard to spot. Cybercriminals often employ fake profiles and identities to target people alongside other fake content, making their deception potentially even more convincing.
Events and activities around the world are taking place today to raise awareness of online risks and threats to better inform and educate all users of all ages about the risks they potentially face online, how to spot them and how to avoid situations online that increase the chance of being scammed.
Safer Internet Day is also encouraging debate and discussion around some of the pressing cybersecurity issues of the day as they pertain to individuals and their use of the internet, including:
- How is changing technology like generative AI going to impact the approach of scammers?
- What role can government and industry take to tackle this threat?
- And what changes would young people like to see to help protect themselves moving forward?
Supporting Internet Safety with The Center
The Center for Cyber Safety and Education, ISC2’s charitable arm, helps create more access to cyber careers and educate those most vulnerable. The Center operates a number of volunteer-backed programs to support its efforts to improve online safety in today’s digital world:
- Safe and Secure Online: The Safe and Secure Online program encourages youth, college students, parents and adults/senior citizens to protect themselves in the digital age by learning safe cybersecurity practices. Volunteers worldwide share their expertise with local communities to raise awareness of internet safety issues while also sharing insights into exciting cyber career possibilities.
- Cyber Safety Tips: The Center provides several resources to support internet safety education, including a range of downloadable tip sheets tailored for different age groups – from teens to senior citizens. There are also guides focused on specific online scams and threats, such as social media scams and help to spot and avoid being tricked by phishing attacks.
- Cybersecurity Health Check: In addition to the support The Center offers for individuals, it also has a valuable program supporting small businesses and nonprofit groups, a collective that is at high risk of experiencing a direct or indirect cyber-attack. Many of these organizations do not have regular access to IT and cybersecurity advice and expertise. The Cybersecurity Health Check pairs ISC2 volunteers with qualified small businesses and nonprofits/NGOs to help them understand and minimize their cybersecurity risk.
Volunteer with The Center
Delivering these programs relies on the support of cybersecurity practitioner volunteers who can share their time and experience with their local communities to improve online safety and awareness.
To volunteer with Safe and Secure Online, visit the web site where you will find a detailed guide to help you get started, register as a volunteer, along with tips on how to promote and run a session.
To support the Cybersecurity Health Check program, visit the program page on the Center web site and click on “Volunteer”.