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Don't Fall for Fake! with Kim Strauss, Director of Information Technology
Q. It seems that there are reports regarding cyber threats and bullying in the news on a regular basis. What preventative action is Brenham ISD taking to address cyber issues in general?
A. Brenham ISD students and staff are learning cyber safety this year with our #eCubSafe program. Every six weeks has a theme with classroom lessons, announcements, and parent flyers. The current theme is ALERT. This theme focuses on scams and verifying online identities. Future themes include STRONG with a focus on passwords and account security checks, KIND with a focus on cyberbullying and positivity with online communication, and the final them is BRAVE with a focus on using reporting tools when an online communication makes a student feel uncomfortable.
Q. The current theme is ALERT. Tell us more about that.
A. The ALERT theme means “Don’t Fall for Fake.” It includes activities about phishing scams and fake online profiles. Phishing is when someone tries to steal information like your login or account credentials by pretending to be someone you trust in an email, text message, or other online communication. Some phishing attacks are obviously fake, but others can be sneaky and really convincing.
Q. How can you spot phishing emails or texts?
A. A website or ad can’t tell if there’s anything wrong with your machine. Never click a pop-up that says your machine has a virus and you need to call a phone number to have someone remote in and fix your device. If a link in an email or text message looks suspicious, ask yourself some questions:
Q. What if you do fall for a scam?
A. Don’t panic! We ask students to let a parent or teacher know immediately. If it is a school account, we ask the teacher to notify the technology department. Change passwords for online accounts immediately. If you think your email was hacked, notify contacts after you change your password. Warn them not to click on any suspicious messages that might have been sent from your account. If your computer was hacked, shut it down immediately to stop access.
Q. How do you verify a person’s identity online?
A. Is their profile photo suspicious? Bad photos, emojis, photos of pets make it easy to hide a real identity. Does their username contain their real name? Look at more than just the online name. Look at the URL and see if it contains their real name socialmedia.com/jane_doe. Do they have a profile bio? Does the information in the “About Me” section confirm how they may know you or does it look like information that could be found easily? How long has the profile been active? Fake accounts usually don’t have much content or signs of people posting, commenting, and socializing with them.
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Q. It seems that there are reports regarding cyber threats and bullying in the news on a regular basis. What preventative action is Brenham ISD taking to address cyber issues in general?
A. Brenham ISD students and staff are learning cyber safety this year with our #eCubSafe program. Every six weeks has a theme with classroom lessons, announcements, and parent flyers. The current theme is ALERT. This theme focuses on scams and verifying online identities. Future themes include STRONG with a focus on passwords and account security checks, KIND with a focus on cyberbullying and positivity with online communication, and the final them is BRAVE with a focus on using reporting tools when an online communication makes a student feel uncomfortable.
Q. The current theme is ALERT. Tell us more about that.
A. The ALERT theme means “Don’t Fall for Fake.” It includes activities about phishing scams and fake online profiles. Phishing is when someone tries to steal information like your login or account credentials by pretending to be someone you trust in an email, text message, or other online communication. Some phishing attacks are obviously fake, but others can be sneaky and really convincing.
Q. How can you spot phishing emails or texts?
A. A website or ad can’t tell if there’s anything wrong with your machine. Never click a pop-up that says your machine has a virus and you need to call a phone number to have someone remote in and fix your device. If a link in an email or text message looks suspicious, ask yourself some questions:
Q. What if you do fall for a scam?
A. Don’t panic! We ask students to let a parent or teacher know immediately. If it is a school account, we ask the teacher to notify the technology department. Change passwords for online accounts immediately. If you think your email was hacked, notify contacts after you change your password. Warn them not to click on any suspicious messages that might have been sent from your account. If your computer was hacked, shut it down immediately to stop access.
Q. How do you verify a person’s identity online?
A. Is their profile photo suspicious? Bad photos, emojis, photos of pets make it easy to hide a real identity. Does their username contain their real name? Look at more than just the online name. Look at the URL and see if it contains their real name socialmedia.com/jane_doe. Do they have a profile bio? Does the information in the “About Me” section confirm how they may know you or does it look like information that could be found easily? How long has the profile been active? Fake accounts usually don’t have much content or signs of people posting, commenting, and socializing with them.