Cyber Security and Identity Protection

When asked to relate math to their childhood, some people automatically think of Cyberchase, a television series for children. The main story of Cyberchase revolves around Motherboard, the “ruler” of Cyberspace, and Digit, a “cy-bird”, who are facing difficulties fighting off the villains who constantly try to usurp Motherboard's power- Hacker, Buzz, and Delete. Unable to defend herself due to viruses, Motherboard takes the help of three humans- Jackie, Inez, and Matt to defeat the trio.

Marriott’s Ridge High School senior Lee Lenz loved watching Cyberchase. “Cyberchase was good about being instructional while still being fun,” he said.

Centennial High School (CHS) junior Anusha Nathan recalled, “Every Friday, my sister and I would come home from school and would sit down and watch Cyberchase- quite probably one of the best shows I saw as a young kid. They taught pretty simple concepts- like area of rectangles and simple multiplication, but then there were the really interesting concepts that Motherboard would ask the kids to consider. It made me think, I’ll say. I just loved it.”

But Cyberchase is not merely a math-based TV show for kids. Analyzed carefully, the entire makeup of the show revolves around computers- from the character names (“Digit”, “Hacker”, “Buzz”, “Delete”), to concepts that relate to the cyber world. A nifty tool for the creators to use for getting kids interested in math, as well as provide information about computers and their dangers. Motherboard was not a real person. In the show, she was depicted on a computer screen (essentially, a ‘motherboard’). As many already know, if a computer is hacked, the user’s private and security information is endangered. Hence whenever Hacker would try to “take over all of cyberspace” per say, viewers realized this meant trouble.

Lenz frequently uses the computer, and hates the negative stigma around having “Internet friends”. He believes it provides for easy communication with people, and is very influential for children, teens, and adults.

Nowadays, computers are being used by everyone in their daily activities- from storing one’s bank account transactions, to filing online government documents or paychecks, even for rallying techniques. “I personally use the Internet everyday. I think it can be helpful but also it could completely steer you off course of where your productivity needs to be. And I think the Internet is extremely influential, the revolution in Egypt a few months back is a perfect example of how the Internet and social media can rally a group of individuals,” said Centennial senior Kyle Simpson.

According to CHS junior Qian Mei, “I feel like the Internet has an increasing influence over young teens and adults; the online media definitely has a strong impression on its viewers, as it is so omnipresent and very opinionated. Even older viewers access more online media sources, and will be greatly influenced by the press' points of view.”

The Internet is now not only useful for surfing, but is also a great tool for reading online novels through e-books.

“As I have heard so many times in school, ‘There is no substitute for books!’ However, as time goes on, the prominence of books online is increasing tremendously, and I think that goes to show the impact of Internet on the world, especially on our generation. I use the Internet to do research, aid me with my homework, and just communicate - through Gmail and Facebook. There are so many reasons the Internet is useful - to network, learn, and just relax - that's what surfing is for!” stated Nathan.

CHS Sophomore Avantika Reddy uses the Internet every day, and also feels it is useful for school. “It’s informative, and a key tool for studying and homework help,” she said. “The Internet has a lot of unreliable material as well- just surf responsibly.”

According to CHS senior Julia Gao, she uses the internet too often, and its “helpful for homework, mostly time wasting entertainment.” Gao loves the Internet for its “funny pictures, entertainment, and lots of random things to learn in an entertaining way.”

Hackers are constantly attempting to break into unsuspecting people’s computers and attach viruses to emails or other accounts and gain valuable information, hurting both adults and minors.

Due to the overwhelming threat to a minor’s identity, the Delegate of Baltimore, Jon S. Cardin passed a bill on March 7th, 2013 that prohibits individuals from threatening, posting private information, or intentionally inflicting harm upon a minor through online resources.

Andrea Covington has been the Science Department Head/Instructional Team Leader at CHS for the past five years, and taught science for the past 16. “I think cyber bullying is much more dangerous than bullying as it was when I was a kid. First of all, there’s an instant way to rally a large number of people to be upset about a particular thing. Or to gang up on a particular person. And so it leads to a lot more pressure and angst in young people,” she said.

On the subject of cyber security, Covington feels that “the best we can do is put controls in place and consequences that are enough of a deterrent that people would stop doing so. As long as everyone is educated and uses it responsibly, no one will be harmed. But certainly there is a high risk involved with personal information and use of the Internet.”

Her advice was simple: “first of all, trust your instincts. If something you read or something a web page that you look at or an email doesn’t ‘feel’ right, then certainly don’t open it, don’t download any attachments, don’t open anything from anyone you don’t know. Similar to the lessons we learned as kids- don’t talk to strangers. So don’t open emails from people that you don’t know. Don’t go to websites of people that you don’t know. You should stay away from sites that do not ‘feel right’ to you. Keeping your personal information guarded is important. You wouldn’t walk up to someone and tell them your social security number. You certainly shouldn’t do that online through an email or a website.”

According to Covington, being safe online is easier if you know what you are looking for and how to protect yourself. Some of the ways are obvious, but people rarely use them.

“Simple ways to keep guarded from identity thieves: certainly changing your passwords regularly, using passwords that are not associated with you. So not using your birth date, not your initials, those kinds of things make it easier. Different passwords for different websites, certainly a nice generic password is good for accounts where you aren’t giving your information. So if you’re just logging in to read your newspaper every week, or those kinds of smaller websites, you can usually use the same password for all of those. But anything that you’re giving your credit card to even if its an account with Target or Walmart, you should use a different password for that and other things,” said Covington.

Having an account on Facebook and Twitter is quickly becoming the norm for people of all ages. By how safe are these sites? Not safe at all, according to Covington. “I don’t think that either is particularly safe, but neither is trying to be,” she said. “Facebook makes it very clear in their user agreement that they will disperse your information, that they deal with advertisers, etc. so it is as safe as they tell you its going to be, which isn’t very safe at all.”

One of the main problems with these sites is how open they are. It doesn’t matter how “private” your settings are on your account. One small mistake and more people than the meager 1,000 friends added on your list will know everything there is to know about you.

“People post too much information. I see a lot of times kids posting information about ‘going to play practice after school’ or ‘I’m so tired and I have so much homework because I was at some athletic event in the evening’, or ‘cant wait to go to the dance on Friday’. And they put that information out there, so people who are watching can see. Well the house is going to be empty, and no one is going to be home. But even adults do that. They post on Facebook or Twitter that they are going away to a convention, or that they are going away for a vacation and it leaves them very vulnerable. There are a lot of people who get robbed in those situations. I don’t think that we need to share every single minute of our day with the entire world. It leaves us very vulnerable,” said Covington.

Another point that comes to mind with posting too much information is the ludicrous way people are unknowingly trusting sites- by giving away their social security numbers (SSN) to them. This is especially observed with college sites- whether it be commonapp.org, applying through the college’s main page, or for scholarships. These sites may indicate that an SSN is required to proceed to the next form or for submit the application. However, students do have the right to refuse to give away personal information- and no harm will be done. Also, some colleges use the last 4 digits of a student’s SSN number as their pin or ID number. This is potentially dangerous, and if this occurs, the student should ask for a different number unrelated to their SSN.

The internet has slowly become an addiction for people- essential for their day-to-day activities, a major help with school and work, and connection with the outside world. Almost everything can now be googled with one touch of a button. However, using the computer can have major drawbacks. A person is essentially connected with the entire world, and sometimes does not realize the drastic effects it can hold for their life until its too late.