Digital Literacy and the burnt finger

There is one main attack vector that no antivirus software could possibly protect against.

You.

Specifically this is the individual who uses the computer. There are always possibilities for the individual to bypass their own protection if they believe that there is no issue with what they are doing. This means that the chance that people get attacked by malware or a scam depends on their proper discretion with respect to the internet and what is expected.

There was an occsion at a local Walmart where I saw a printed page taped to the gift card kiosk insisting that there is no government institution that requires payment in prepaid depit card numbers.

This might be something that people would scoff at, but if you’ve ever encountered a scam that you immediately understood was a scam then you weren’t in the target audience.

Personally I was attacked by a Scam by my first cell phone. Someone called and insisted that they were part of Telus and could renegotiate a better cost for the plan. I was using prepaid cards, so I wasn’t really interested in the offer, but didn’t refuse outright because I was a younger and less confident person. I told them I wanted to wait for a week. When they asked for my credit card information a week later I simply denied their offer and hung up. Only a year later I realized that they were not in the proper system and most likely a scam.

What are some ways to frustrate scammers or internet bad actors?

• Ensure You are aware of what could compromise your computer
• Make different passwords that you can remember. Or if you are going to use the same password for different things only use that for websites and programs that have no value and are not used for your work.
• Differentiate your systems. If you can afford it it is helpful to have a designated system for your work. This can ensure that if you make an oopsie then it is not catastrophic.
• Have a backup that is current. If you can make a backup for your system that is updated regularly then there will be less issues if there is a catastrophic failure. This is also useful outside of the problems of bad actors since a computer does have elements that can break. If they do then there’s pretty much nothing that can be done.

With respect to students there are many skills that they need to build up to even understand the internet on a fundamental level. Beyond the knowledge of the past that was difficult to find now students need to navigate a place where there is far too much information to critically engage with each piece of it. Some of them are even “True”.

The Fundamental skill that Students need to learn, and is most difficult to teach, is Curation.

“Knowing how to find reliable information” is the ultimate skill that people cannot teach. From understanding that any difficulties with scams are unnecessary. The ultimate question is how to teach students that the internet stove is hot without letting them get burnt.