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(ISC)² joins forces with Childnet in internet safety campaignEleanor Dallaway

Members of (ISC)² and

Childnet, a charity de-

voted to making the internet a

safe place for children, have an-

nounced a scheme to promote

internet security awareness in

British schools.

John Colley, a consultant for a

major UK finance institution, de-

scribed the project as “an excit-

ing initiative that will hopefully

be used as a model for other pro-

fessions”. Colley also serves on

the board of directors for (ISC)²,

the CISSP certification body.

“With (ISC)² experts doing all

the training”, he explained, “we

maintain high quality around

the programme. It is an oppor-

tunity for anybody that holds

one of our credentials to do

some volunteer work in their

local community”.

The scheme is to pilot in

the UK this year, with train-

ing beginning in October,

and the schooling to begin in

November.

Colley expressed hope that if

the scheme is successful, it will

expand to include schools all

over Europe. Colley has other

plans for expansion too: “We are

also considering doing a similar

program with small local busi-

nesses, an area in which we think

that as a society, we are particu-

larly vulnerable”. This training

would include advice on data

protection, patching machines

“and all the really basic stuff that

corporates take for advantage,

but is quite a vulnerability”.

Enabler and danger?The programme hopes to pro-

vide the right balance between

promoting the internet as a great

resource, and highlighting the im-

portance of using it safely and re-

sponsibly. It is aimed at 11-13 year

olds. “They are generally more

sophisticated internet users”, said

Colley. When asked about the mo-

tive behind this target audience,

he said: “a lot of the training mate-

rial fits directly into their curricu-

lum”. Young children however,

are beginning to use computers

and the internet more and more,

and are surely in need of this edu-

cation too? Colley acknowledged

this demand, “we will review the

scheme at the end of the year, if

it successful, we will be sending

it to primary schools and more

secondary schools”.

Although the internet is a

great enabler, there are dangers

involved with using such technol-

ogy. “There have been many cases

of undesirable people grooming

children and children need to be

aware of this. A security profes-

sional can explain to them how

the internet is a very anonymous

place and it is very difficult to

track people down, and can

therefore be very dangerous”.

Such brutal realities, how-

ever, run the risk of scaring

children into not using the

internet. Colley insists that this

programme will not do this.

“We don’t want to detract in

any way from the very positive

aspects of IT technology”.

Childnet are working closely

with (ISC)² to compile materials

such as hand-outs, take-aways

and information packs which

will become available to the

children during the presenta-

tions. They will also be the

opportunity for question and

answer sessions.

The importance of anti-virus protectionColley is eager to point out that

the scheme is not solely about

warning children about the

dangers of visiting inappropri-

ate websites and using IM, but

also about the importance of

anti-virus software and patches

for their computers: “We want

to lay good foundations for

good practices later in life. If we

catch them young and explain

that it is a place where you

have to be careful about what

you do and protect your infor-

mation, then hopefully as they

become young adults, they will

protect their personal informa-

tion from identity theft because

they’ve had their grounding in

school”.

Hugely popular with chil-

dren and young adults, instant

messaging and chat rooms are

unfortunately home to the big-

gest threats. Talking to someone

who you may not know on a

one-to-one basis can be incred-

ibly dangerous. These risks must

be bought to attention. “Parents

need to be addressed too”, said

Colley, “in regard to software

that should be installed to stop

children from entering sites that

they should not be accessing”.

More than just internet awareness

The programme will also

look at mobile phone security.

The promotion of safe and

responsible use of mobiles is

becoming more and more im-

portant due to new technolo-

gies such as Bluetooth, which

enables other mobile phone

owners to access information

and files from another activat-

ed mobile. With many children

owning mobile phones, Colley

lists some of the dangers that

they will be exposing. “Basic

things, like putting PIN num-

bers on SIM cards, not using

a phone while walking down

a street without many people

around, decisions regarding

contract or pay as you go

phones. Ensuring acceptable

use of built-in cameras and

recording devices is also im-

portant”.

Childnet already work within

schools in the UK and other

countries to promote the posi-

tive and creative ways children

and young people can use the

internet for good. Combined

with the expertise of (ISC)²

— which has 2000 UK mem-

bers — their efforts with this

programme could be significant.

If you are an (ISC)² member

and want to get involved, please

contact broberts@isc2.org.

Wikipedia just as ‘wiki’ as ever, says WalesBrian McKenna

Wikipedia founder Jimmy

Wales told delegates

to a recent CSI infosec confer-

ence in Florida to beware news

stories about his organization

locking down content. Wales

cited a New York Times story

that anyone can edit Wikipedia

entries and a BBC story that

the site was ‘not as wiki as

it used to be’ as examples of

press disinformation.

The web site’s President out-

lined a vision of “a free ency-

clopaedia for every single per-

son on the plane in their own

language” in a keynote speech.

Two hundred and fifty thou-

sand articles in each language

with one million plus native

speakers is the Wikipedia goal,

he said.

Meantime, he countered

suggestions of lack of editorial

quality. Half of the articles in the

English Wikipedia are written

by 615 people, he reported. “It

is a small, tight-knit community

which is intensely intellectually

passionate about quality”, he said.

Wales predicted that the

next decade will bring a

“broader free culture with

new projects, like Wikipedia,

but in the fields of music and

film”.

“We are at the beginning of a

media revolution, with ‘creative

commons’ sites like Flickr”, he

asserted.