Cybersecurity awareness needs to be a tool we pass on to the next generation. The reason for this is, as they start to interface with computers, mobile devices, they again access the world of internet through social media. It is significant for the youths to be safe online while doing so, This can only happen when we provide them with the right knowledge to stay safe. Online safety is a responsibility of the entire community including teachers and the parents/guardians.

The month of October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). The campaign is annual to raise awareness about the significance of cybersecurity. As a result, Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) visits some selected organisations in this month. This covers the private and public sectors (including schools). The purpose is to enlighten these sets of individuals/groups and about the opportunities and threats posed by cybersecurity.

We visited a particular secondary school in Abuja for a two-hour session to interact with them. The lecture was in two parts the first being general cyber security tips. We covered topics such as cyberbullying and identity theft. We demonstrated to the children how to create an ideal password for the social media account by making it lengthy, using special characters and numbers, etc. The second of our presentation, half we focused on career guidance concerning cybersecurity. At a tender age, the career options for teenagers are endless. We were able to present various career option in cybersecurity and provided them with the information they need to start a career at the end their secondary school.

The highlight of the event for me was how the teenager already knows about deep and tech-savvy they were. I remember being asked questions around jailbreaking mobile devices (which we strongly discourage). The student was able to describe in detail how she was able to create a batch file application (virus) that would crash windows application through a Denial-of-service (DoS) attack, This we never expected from them. We were able to impact them with the fundamental knowledge they need to navigate the dangers of the internet space and pass on the knowledge to others. At this point I thought to myself, how much monitoring and restriction do parents, guidance and teacher enforce on the younger once?

In conclusion, there needs to be an open channel of communication between the teachers, parents and the children. By this, the child can open up to their life experiences to be guided by elders.

As the NCSAM comes to an end, we hope to continue to touch more people's lives through cybersecurity awareness.

Sadiq Nasir