A recent report found that schools are often the first to see malware threats emerge because of the way students and staff behave.
For example, both students and staff bring in multiple connected devices from home and use them across the schools network, putting them at risk of numerous malware infections.
To combat this, a new program has been launched to help high school students learn the critical skills and attitudes they need to operate safely online.
The Cyber Security Challenges for High School program will be delivered by the University of Sydney in partnership with Australia's banking sector, which has become increasingly active in K-12 education amid uncertainty about school funding and resourcing.
The program teaches cyber security concepts and skills by providing classroom activities or ‘Challenges’ that cover aspects of the Year 7-10 Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies.
Starting in October the Challenges will launch over the next year with an introduction to cyber and personal information security using relatable realistic scenarios.
The first of four Challenges takes the imaginative approach of encouraging students to think from an attacker’s perspective, collecting the personal information shared in the social media of fictitious characters to compromise their simulated banking, email and online shopping accounts.
Associate professor, James Curran, academic director of the Australian Computing Academy (ACA) and one of the authors of Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies said the Challenges will provide the critical skills and attitudes that students need to operate safely online.
“[The program] will also deliver Australia’s digital technologies curriculum and highlighting the fantastic career paths that exist in cyber security,” Curran said.
“Teachers and parents concerned about cyber security can be confident that their students will be security conscious in their digital work and lives by participating in the Challenges.”
Professor Pip Pattison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) said the partnership leverages the collective expertise and experience of the banking and telecommunications sectors in a “crucial area” of education.