As we went through the Awareness Awareness Week (Privacy Awareness Week), ESET explored how teachers can finally meet this challenge but also how quarantine can radically change the future of education.
During the pandemic, the world changed and a large part of our daily lives is now played online. Education is one of the areas that has been greatly affected by this change: the living rooms of the houses have been turned into classrooms, the kitchens into canteens and the gardens into schoolyards.
And while time management, balancing school and home life, and maintaining a daily schedule are among the important issues that education has to deal with, there is an extremely important problem in this story that is less obvious, and it is called better safety of the information.
On the occasion of our Privacy Awareness Week, ESET explored how teachers can finally meet this challenge and how quarantine can radically change the future of education.
As distance education begins to become the "new normality", an issue that will be a concern in the long run is how teachers and students will be able to secure their privacy and protect their personal data when large amounts of sensitive information - including grades , student performance appraisals and personal data - are now available online.
According to ESET, the three key parameters that will contribute to information security as long as distance learning is established are:
1. End-to-end encryption. In the future it is very likely that much more emphasis will be placed on virtual classrooms. Especially in the higher levels of education, the question so far "is there a reason to do online courses; » may be replaced by "is there a reason for them to be made in person?". In this case, the distance learning will take the central role and now from an alternative it will become the main one. In addition, it will help in better cooperation at school at all levels, not only between teachers but also between students.
However, what we have learned from today's situation is important. Video conferencing services that are – or were originally – less secure will fall by the wayside and be replaced by services that offer end-to-end encryption to prevent unauthorized participants from joining video calls. Also, more emphasis will be placed on the means of communication that teachers and students will use on a daily or weekly basis base to ensure they are secure and protect their privacy.
2. Multi-Factor Identity Check (multifactor authentication). Since more and more personal data will be stored on remote systems, the control multifactor authentication will cease to be a luxury and will become a non-negotiable requirement.
And that's because when accounts are protected with only one password, they are exposed to many risks cyber securitys. In the case of education, educational institutions usually assign users simple passwords that users often forget to change. This means that malicious actors can easily gain access to accounts.
When it is not possible to exchange information in person, then the platforms used for this work must meet very high security standards. Therefore, using multi-factor authentication is a way to limit the risk from all kinds of malicious actions (scams, piracy etc.).
3. Enhancing the teaching of cybersecurity in schools. Perhaps, ultimately, the biggest change that quarantine and restrictive measures will bring during the pandemic in education will be the strengthening of cybersecurity teaching in schools. As teachers and students increasingly rely on technological resources, the basic steps to safeguard these resources and those who use them should be an integral part of the curriculum internationally.
ESET: Even after the quarantine is lifted, the events of this year will not be easily forgotten, nor will the difficulties of the transition to teleworking and distance learning. There is no reason for cyber security teaching to cause fear. For parents with younger children, Safer Kids Online is a reference point for accessible and understandable information. Everyone needs to understand the basic principles of cybersecurity and how to protect themselves and their data online. The best way to do this is to teach cybersecurity at all levels of education.
