Photo Credit: Photo by Saylor Cuzzort
More Technology Increases Need Of Being Digitally Aware
From social media to working on the internet, in this day and age staying digitally aware is necessary to stay safe. For one student, not taking precautions caused a problem that could have easily been prevented.
“I had left my computer on at some point and somebody used my account to send an email to one of my teachers saying something happened to me that wasn’t true,” senior Issac Gewin said. “This could have been prevented if I just signed out of all accounts before turning off a computer.”
Gewin had to report to the counselor’s office to explain away the false report, otherwise, the counselors would have had to mandatory report a claim of sexual abuse that was not true.
Besides a scenario, like Gewin experienced, staying logged on to a computer with a school email address, can lead to being a victim of identity theft or having a password stolen or changed.
“Being digitally aware is a very broad statement. This could be an umbrella term for staying informed on the latest tech news, being capable of recognizing malicious sites, not falling for phishing scams, and many more,” Computer Operations Manager Aurora Yancey said.
It is important to log out of any computer, laptop or iPad you use. Without logging out one risks having a situation like Gewin’s. Not logging out and being logged on to multiple computers at once can cause the network to lag and the computer to slow down tremendously.
“You can protect your accounts by not recording your passwords on paper where people can see them there are apps on your phones to keep your passwords safe,” Library Media Technology Specialist Pamela Hooton.
Not being digitally aware can not only be a problem for you but others as well. Schools across the country have been affected by this issue. Over 500 schools were hit by ransomware in 2019. This attack has cost schools hundreds to thousands of dollars. Ransomware can be caused by logging on to your social media or web-based instant messaging.
“If we do not all make an effort to be more digitally aware, any one of us could be the one to cost the district thousands or even millions due to a ransomware attack,” Yancey said.