As we went through the Awareness Awareness Week (Privacy Awareness Week), ESET explored how teachers can ultimately 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 taking place. 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 life between school and home, and maintaining a daily schedule are some of the important issues that education must address, there is an extremely important problem in this story that is less obvious and is called safety. 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 the current situation is important. Video conferencing services that are - or were originally - less secure will be marginalized and replaced by services that offer end-to-end encryption to prevent unauthorized participants from participating in video calling. There will also be more emphasis on the media that teachers and students will use on a daily or weekly basis to ensure that they are safe and that they protect their privacy.
2. Multi-Factor Identity Check (multifactor authentication). As more and more personal data is stored on remote systems, multifactor authentication will no longer be a luxury and will become a non-negotiable requirement.
And that's because when accounts are only protected with a password, they are exposed to many cybersecurity risks. 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 access in the 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 (fraud, 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 lifting of the quarantine, the events of this year will not be easily forgotten, nor will the difficulties of the transition to teleworking and distance learning. There's no reason to be afraid of teaching cybersecurity. For parents of younger children, Safer Kids Online is a reference point for accessible and understandable information. Everyone should understand the basics of cyber security and how to protect themselves and their data online. The best way to do this is to teach cybersecurity at all levels of education.
