Continue learning about this activity kit by exploring the following educational resources

Explore this cybersecurity site to learn more about how to keep yourself and the people you care about safe online.

Resources for teachers

Resources for parents

Digital experience for students

Additional resources

Additional resources for teachers

Let's Talk Safe Tech Activity Kit

Explore these resources to help you share cybersecurity learning with others.

Additional Resources

Malware

Phishing

Ransomware

Spear phishing

Spyware

Learn more about what they do

Cybersecurity at IBM

Have you been up to date on how to protect yourself and your devices? Test your cybersecurity know-how in this quiz.

What's your cybersecurity style?

A team of designers and developers built this site, and even we have been hacked!

Stories

How safe have you been online?

looping background video clip of "The Talk"

Personality Details

How many browser tabs do you have open right now?

From a digital catalogue, like on iTunes, or your local library.

On a user-generated video platform like YouTube.

On a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu or Crave.

A friend is coming over to watch a movie. Where are you most likely to watch it?

What is the first name of the first person you kissed?

What is the name of the hospital you were born in?

What was the name of your primary school?

Which security question do you usually pick?

Use my own portable battery charger and cable.

Ask to borrow a charger from someone nearby.

Your phone's battery is running low! How do you charge it?

Interesting articles, funny memes, whatever I think other people should see.

What do you usually share on the internet?

Create a private event and invite people.

Make a public post and tag everyone in it.

You're hosting a party at your house. How do you get the word out?

I keep it more organized than a library; everything is exactly where it should be.

Full of screenshots, random photos and downloads; I haven't seen the wallpaper in months.

Kinda messy sometimes but I think I know where the important stuff is.

There's nothing there. I like seeing my wallpaper.

What does the desktop of your computer look like?

I make folders of my desktop on my desktop.

I use an external hard-drive, every once in a while.

I keep everything in the cloud or schedule backups to the cloud.

Who knows the password to your main email account?

I have one where I switch up characters and add in numbers and symbols here and there.

All of my passwords are completely randomly generated.

You're signing up for a new service and need to create a username. Which do you choose?

<div class='ibm-type-serif iods-type-body-02'>
 Best practices for taking control of your data: 
 <ol>
 <li>Be mindful of what you're putting out there
 <ul>
 <li>What have you consented to sharing?</li>
 <li>How will it be used?</li>
 <li>Is the network of the provider secure?</li>
 <li>What responsibility does the provider/app/company take for securing your data?</li>
 <li>Are you able to request your data that is being held?</li>
 <li>Are you able to delete your data?</li>
 </ul>
 </li> 
 <li>Understand what data is being collected about you and how it will be used
 <ul>
 <li>Opt out of unnecessary tracking</li>
 <li>Read terms and conditions before using a new app</li>
 </ul>
 </li>
 <li>Keep your device secure
 <ul>
 <li>Keep it up to date</li>
 <li>Keep apps up to date</li>
 <li>Keep your bluetooth and wifi off whenever possible</li>
 <li>Avoid public wifi networks</li>
 <li>Use a password manager</li>
 <li>Auto-generate safe passwords</li>
 <li>Don't use the same password for any two accounts</li>
 </ul>
 </li>
 <li>Ask how your data will be used
 <ul>
 <li>By mobile apps</li>
 <li>By retailers</li>
 <li>By your doctor</li>
 <li>By insurance companies</li>
 <li>When banking</li>
 <li>When at work</li>
 </ul>
 </li>
 </ol>

 

 Protecting Kids Online:
 The opportunities kids have to socialize online come with benefits and risks. Adults can help reduce the risks by talking to kids about making safe and responsible decisions.

 <a href='https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/protecting-kids-online' target='_blank' class='ibm-mt-2 u-display-inline-block '>More info</a> 

 
 </div>

As a parent, you know that children are driven to explore and try new things, but you also want them to be safe. Educate yourself on some additional quick tips below so you can be a strong cybersecurity role model for your kids.

Resources for Parents

<div class='ibm-type-serif iods-type-body-02'>Use the Activity Kit resources below to bring even more cybersecurity learning into your classroom. Help your students learn about how to protect themselves online and inspire them to pursue a career in cybersecurity! 
 
 Let's Talk Safe Tech Activity Kit
 This Activity Kit enables you to lead an interactive cybersecurity overview with your students — including team exercises to get your students engaged.
 <a href='/activities/cybersecurity' target='_blank' class='ibm-mt-2 u-display-inline-block '>More info</a> 

 The Internet of Me Activity Kit
 The Internet of Me program is designed to help raise cybersecurity awareness among students aged 12-15. The goal is to capture imaginations by offering encouragement and support to counteract the social and peer pressures that discourage too many talented young people, especially women, from pursuing their interests in STEM.   Audience: Ages 12-15 (Middle grade students)
 <a href='https://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/initiatives/activitykits/internet_of_me/' target='_blank' class='ibm-mt-2 u-display-inline-block '>More info </a> 

 Introduction to Cybersecurity Activity Kit
 This Activity Kit teaches students about the importance of cybersecurity and having strong passwords. It also introduces students to ciphers and basic codebreaking skills.  Audience: Ages 11-14 (Middle grade students)
 <a href='https://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/initiatives/activitykits/csec/' target='_blank' class='ibm-mt-2 u-display-inline-block '>More info </a> 
 </div>

With computers in classrooms, cybersecurity also needs to be discussed so that your students can explore technology safely and confidently.

Resources for Teachers

I hadn’t even had my first cup of coffee when the phone rang. It was a police officer. He sternly told me his name and title and then confirmed mine.

I was shocked. Why would the police be calling me? I never break the law — any law, even minor bylaws.

I don’t even step on the grass if a sign says, “Keep off the grass.”

The officer explained he was calling because I hadn’t paid my international student tax fee of $4,000, which was overdue.

WHAT?!  $4000???  I started to panic. I didn’t have $4,000; I don’t have anywhere close to $4000! How was I going to get that kind of money?

He told me they sent several notices, but I hadn’t responded.

I hadn’t gotten any notices. Or had I? Did I just miss them? I open my mail the day it arrives; how could I have missed multiple notices?

I asked him to confirm my mailing address and as he did, I could barely hear his words over my pounding heart.

He told me this needed to be paid today, or a government official would come to my house. I could either do a money transfer or he could take my credit card information over the phone.

How come nobody had told me about this tax? The student aid office should have said something! I was terrified that they’d make me leave the country… but wait. Credit card? Had he said credit card? I was pretty sure I had some room on my card, so I asked him to hold on while I got my wallet.

I ran to my wallet, pulled out the card and ran back to the phone. But then, as I read out the first few numbers a thought struck me: The police take credit cards? For this much money? Over the phone?

I stopped reading the numbers, and explained that I was uncomfortable doing this over the phone. I asked for their office address, so we could do this in person.

The “officer” hesitated, mumbled something about getting back to me, and quickly ended the call. It was amazing how quickly his stern tone turned to hesitation.

It was a scam, and a good one at that. The caller had me scared, nervous, and not thinking straight — perfect conditions to get me to do something rash, like paying money that I didn’t owe.

When someone like a police officer calls you about an urgent issue, it's easy to get tricked into taking action without following proper precautions. If you get a call asking for information or for money, verify that person's identity before doing anything else. For example, if your someone from your bank calls, take the caller's name and call back using the phone number on your credit or confirm the phone number on their website.

A good social engineer knows just which buttons to push. Can you spot a phisher trying to steal from you?

The police take credit cards?

My phone was in the other room and I ignored the first few pings, but after the 5th ping in a minute, I picked it up and saw a string of messages from a website I recently used to book a bed and breakfast:

“Thanks for verifying your card.”

“Booking request sent for Kona International Airport”

“Reservation confirmed for Maui”

Kona? Maui? I freaked out. I knew right away someone was using my account and credit card info.

Apparently, I was going to be staying in Hawaii for 16 nights — all for the low price of $2,167.68!

I’d been hacked. What else could someone do with all the information I’d given this site? Did I use the same password for other accounts?

I called to cancel my credit card. Then, I changed my passwords on the booking site and the associated email account. Then, I removed my saved card information.

As soon as that was done, I contacted the booking site’s help desk and let them know what happened. They reversed the charges, and reassured me that I had taken the right steps to secure my account — but they weren’t able to tell me who had hacked me, how they had done it, what they did to my account, or what else they could do with the information they had.

I’m still anxious that something sinister may lie ahead because various companies have access to my name, birthday, and phone number.

To be safe, I started using unique, randomly generated passwords, for each and every account. And if I can avoid it, I don’t save my credit card details anywhere. I also turned on notifications for any changes to my accounts.

While Hawaii sounds like a lovely vacation destination, next time I’d prefer making the reservations on my own, without the “help” of a scammer.

Here is how you can avoid a hacker booking a vacation on your behalf: • Always use a unique passphrase, or use a password manager to secure your accounts. • Using a complicated password doesn't mean it has to be impossible for you to remember. Use a password manager like <a target='_blank' rel='noopener' rel='noreferrer' href='https://1password.com'>1Password</a> and save yourself from getting hacked, and having to reset your password every time you visit a site.

Saving your credit card information to your account makes it easier to shop, but who else are you making it easier for?

Congratulations, you’re headed to Hawaii!

I’d been playing a popular online first-person shooter game for more than a year, still trying to get the gold “skin” for my sniper rifle to gain some status.

I got matched online with a player whose every gun was gold. He’d obviously been playing a long time to advance that far.

He sent me a message saying I was good at the game and we became online friends. For a few weeks, we played every day after school and had some marathon weekend sessions. One day, I asked if he could teach me how he had gold skins for his guns. He told me of a hack that unlocks the gold skin and if I sent him my username and password, he would do it for me.

Great! I did have a small, nagging feeling that I shouldn't, but at this point we were pretty good friends. And getting all my guns in gold? I couldn’t pass that up.

Right after I sent him my password, though, I got logged out of my account and couldn't get back in. I kept trying my password, but it didn’t work. I tried resetting it, but that didn’t work either.

I’d lost my gaming handle, my list of friends, my progress from all my games. Gone forever. All because I trusted the wrong person.

I was angry at myself. Also embarrassed, not only by being duped, but by succumbing to the lure of a hack to cheat.

It was a harsh lesson, but it was far more valuable than any gaming rewards I would have gotten.

Faking a friendship is much easier online. No matter how close you feel with an online friend, never share account information or any other personal information. You never really know who could be behind the avatar on screen.

“Kind strangers” are everywhere online. What happens when one of them offers to help a gamer get a rare item?

The Allure of the Golden Gun

We were roommates and inseparable friends. We camped, cooked, saw concerts together and shared a million laughs and lessons, as you do during college.

It wasn’t until we got into a huge argument and he moved out that I discovered he had such a vicious mean streak.

The first night on my own, sitting on the couch in my now half-furnished living room, I learned why you shouldn’t use the same password everywhere and never ever share any password with anyone.

Pretending to be me, he used the password we shared for a streaming media site and logged into my email and social media accounts, fabricated a bunch of untrue and hugely inappropriate “confessions” and spammed my entire network - including my friends, family and the people I worked with. Designed to embarrass me, I guess he thought it was funny.

Well there was nothing funny about the phone call I got from my mom, or the looks I got when I showed up at work, the weeks of frustration as I tried to regain access to my email and online accounts, or the hundreds of times I’ve had to explain to people that the messages they received weren’t from me.

Passwords should be two things; strong and unique. Using the same password for everything seems like the easiest way to access your accounts, but it's also the easiest way to get hacked. Already shared information? Change your passwords, and in the future, change them regularly! This helps keeps you safe and everyone out of your business.

Sharing account passwords isn’t uncommon, but what’s the worst that could happen when someone pretends to be  you?