With the increase of internet usage by children at home and at school, teachers should ensure that steps are taken to protect learners from all types of online risks that can pose a serious threat information and data stored on computers.

The free GetSmarter Guide to Online Safety includes advice on all types of online risks, and offers plenty of practical advice on keeping yourself and your data even more secure.

5 More Tips to Online Safety

1. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A stranger wouldn’t really give you large sums of money for a little help, and it’s impossible to win a lottery without ever entering it. Ignore emails like these completely.
2. Keep your passwords safe, change them often and make sure they are very hard to guess. Don’t use your name, birthdate, pet’s name or any other obvious piece of information.
3. Never agree to meet someone you met on the internet in real life without having friends present and being in a public space. In fact, it is best to avoid these meetings altogether.
4. Make sure that your computer has good antivirus and firewall programs installed to prevent hackers getting access to your data and viruses infecting your computer.
5. When making any online payments by credit card, ensure that you are using a reputable vendor and that you enter your details on a secure site. To see if a site is secure, look for “https” at the beginning of the web address (instead of the usual “http”), and look for the little lock icon on your browser – a closed lock indicates a secure site.

Want to learn more about the Internet?

Click here to read about the University of Cape Town Internet Super-User course. This course teaches students to harness the power of the internet and use its tools to its full potential.