Internet Privacy and Security Activity: Keeping It Real (Secret): Creating Strong Passwords and Avoiding Tricks

Instructions for You – 70” – Step 9 Partners or Small Teams

Objective: Students have a sense that digital information is not private, but managing personal information on the world wide wacky web is not nearly as totes obvi as students might think. In this activity, students get a crash course on all the basics (and a few not-so-basics) about keeping their private info under wraps. After all, friends don't let friends e-cruise confused. Students learn how to create strong account passwords, avoid malware, manage their browser history, and check for secure sites. Students will develop their own list of policies to stay safe and secure online.

Materials Needed: 

• Computers with Internet access
• Computer headphones for watching online videos (optional)

Step 1 (5 mins): Remind students that the first and most important gatekeepers to their personal information online are passwords. Students control their own passwords and so have the power to create a strong wall of protection around their personal information.

Students: Watch the "Passwords 101" video on YouTube and answer the following questions:

1. What are some examples of bad passwords? Are any of your personal passwords weak like these?
2. Why are these passwords unsafe? Why are they easy to hack? 
3. Based on this video, do you think any of your personal passwords are strong?

Step 2 (5 mins): After watching the video, CLASS DISCUSSION of what NOT to do when creating a password.

DON’TS

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-

-

-

Now move on to brainstorming the characteristics of good passwords. Possible answers:

DO'S

Step 3 (5 mins): Discuss ways to protect their passwords from others. Possible answers:

• Don't ever write down your password.
• Never ever ever text or email your password, since then anyone who breaks into your phone or laptop can steal your password.
• Don't tell anyone your password. 
• Variety is the spice of life: don't use the same password for everything. 
• Don't let public computers remember your passwords or usernames. (We're not suggesting your local librarian is an identity thief, but you have to be careful.)

Step 4 (5 mins): Students, use the criteria you came up with for good and bad passwords to create a list of 5-10 bad (or weak) passwords, ones that are easy to guess. Students do this activity in your own GoogleDoc, you can work alone, or in partners. Then each student comes up with one good password that he/she keeps private. 

BAD

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

GOOD

1. 

Sample tip: One great idea for creating a really hard-to-guess password is to use the first letters from the words of a line from your favorite song. For example, take Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." The line "I'm beautiful in my way" would give you "IBIMW" and then you can combine that with other numbers, letters, and symbols. Just make sure you can remember your own password – and that you're not humming your favorite song at your desk all day. Hummers, beware. Now you try using this to create a good password: what would your secret tune be?

Step 5 (5 mins): Time for the moment of truth. Direct students to the Password Meter site to test how tough their passwords are. If their passwords are weak, they should keep trying new possibilities until they settle on a good one.

Remind students to not share the wealth of their private info, because anyone can use it to steal from them, impersonate them, or even worse. Dun dun dun. And no, we're not being drama queens here.

Step 6 (5 mins): Remind students that they should always sign out and/or log off when they leave a computer or email program.

Why?

Step 7 (5 mins): Explain to students that even if they're super careful with their passwords, there are always viruses lurking in the background that can compromise their online security.

Sample explanation: Viruses and other evil computer problems are called by a million dollar word: malware. Anyone have any idea what mal means? [Students may know that "mal" means bad in Spanish and a lot of other languages too.] That's right, viruses are bad news. If they sneak into your computer, they use and abuse your files and information. They can delete your diary entries and even software, which then costs money to replace. They can also steal all that personal information that you've worked so hard to keep private.

Watch: Viruses, Worms and Trojans…Oh my! an animated video on YouTube that explains how these cyber bad guys work. Afterwards, answer the following questions:

1. What is malware, and what can malware be used to do? 
2. How do Trojans trick users into downloading them? Do you think you've ever come across a Trojan?
3. What's the scariest thing you learned about malware from this video?

Step 8 (5-10 mins): Class discussion about some ways to avoid malware.

Come up with at least 5 tips

Step 9 (15-20 mins): Students show off what they've learned by creating a Top 10 (or more) list of their own policies for staying safe and secure online. Students should use their own words for this and yes, Internet slang and abbreves are more than okay.

Step 10 (Costello)

Insert an Image as a Drawing and create your own

Standards Met

• Common Core Standards: ELA 6-8th Grade Standards: Reading 1; Reading for Informational Text 1, 4; Writing 2d, 3d, 8; Speaking and Listening 1bcd, 2.
• 21st Century Skills: Information, Media, and Technology Skills: Access and Evaluate Information, Use and Manage Information, Apply Technology Effectively; Life and Career Skills: Interact Effectively with Others, Work Effectively in Diverse Teams.
  

SHMOOP #1 – Using Internet Browsers and Email Activity: Browser Basics: The Places You'll "Go" and the Pop-Ups You'll Block

Instructions

Objective: Students brainstorm different browsers and learn the basics of using a browser and the features it has to offer. Students also learn how to block pop-ups ads.

• Computers with Internet access
• "Anatomy of a Browser" JPG – Open Google Doc | Insert provided JPG | Insert Text Boxes for your answer

Step 1 (2-3 mins):  Class Discussion – definition of a Web browser and examples

Step 3 (10-15 mins):  Basics of browser "anatomy".  Open a Google Doc – Insert the two JPG’s of "Anatomy of a Browser" as DRAWINGS– Insert Text Boxes for your Answers 

-Back/Forward Buttons

Class discussion of the features of a browser.  Volunteers to describe each feature, including the symbol that identifies it (all students can follow along) and what the feature is used for. 

Save document as: Per#_First Last_SHMOOP

Standards Met

• Common Core Standards: ELA 6-8th Grade Standards: Writing 8; Speaking and Listening 1bcd, 2.

• 21st Century Skills: Information, Media, and Technology Skills: Use and Manage Information; Life and Career Skills: Interact Effectively with Others, Work Effectively in Diverse Teams.

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Open a GoogleDoc and INSERT the IMAGES below:
Anatomy of a Browser 1-Firefox

SHMOOP #3 – Internet Privacy and Security Activity: Without A (Big) Trace: Managing Your Digital Footprint

Instructions

Objective: Students scatter e-tracks online every day – big and small, positive and inappropriate, those that reach a few friends and others that hit hundreds or more viewers. Students may not be aware of all the information that companies collect about them and use. In this activity, students play investigator and assess their online activities and the kinds of digital tracks that they are leaving online. Students consider the implications of their "digital tattoos" and do action research to piece together the footprints that they've left behind – deliberately or not – on the information super freeway.

Materials Needed: 

• Computers with Internet access

Step 1 (5 mins):  Class watch a quick video introducing the concept of a digital footprint.

Class Discussion:  

1. Have you ever considered that everything you do online might be seen by others?

2. What websites do you like to go on, and what do you do on them? What websites do you have usernames for?

3. With all the things you've posted on the Internet already, is there anything you wouldn't like the whole world to be able to see?

Step 2 (5 mins):  Class watch a video of digital footprint non-taxicab confessions (created by the Digital Tattoo Project) and class discussion to answer the following questions:

1. What types of information do the first three or four individuals in the video think is out there about them on the Internet? Is it appropriate? Do you think they all feel good about it? Why or why not? 

2. What info do you think is out there about you online? Do you feel good about what's out there? Why or why not? 

3. When it comes to the Internet, is it helpful or harmful to have a common name that a lot of other people also have?

Step 3 (15 mins): According to the website, a digital tattoo is "your digital identity. Just like a tattoo, your digital reputation is an expression of yourself. It is formed and added to by you and others over time."  Follow instructions on the left-hand side of the websites and search for your names (first and last together possibly in quotation marks) on the following websites:

• http://spokeo.com

• http://www.spezify.com/ 

In addition, search for yourself on:

• http://www.google.com/

• http://www.bing.com/

• http://www.yahoo.com/

• http://www.images.google.com

Take notes on all the information you are able to find out about yourself. At half time, search the Web for someone else and record all the information that you find out about them.

Step 4 (5 mins):  Class discussion on the following questions:

1. So tell me some of the things that you found out about yourself. Did any of them surprise you? Are you surprised to find that information about yourself publicly available? 

2. Was anyone alarmed by anything that they found about themselves online? If so, can you think of what action, if any, you might take about this to have the information removed? 

3. Did you find out anything surprising about your partners?

Step 5 (10 mins):  Copy & paste the following questions into a Google Doc and answer the questions in complete sentences, restating the question in your answers.  Class watches "Digital Dossier"  

1. What is a digital dossier? 

2. When does it start? 

3. What is the first ever part of Andy's digital dossier? 

4. When Andy is born, what information does his digital bracelet have? 

5. When Andy goes on Neopets, what information does he provide about himself? 

6. What information does Andy post on Facebook? What does Facebook do with this information? 

7. What does Google do with the searches that Andy performs? 

8. What happens when Andy buys something from Amazon? 

9. What does Andy's cell phone GPS do? 

10. What happens when Andy gets married? 

11. What will happen to Andy's dossier when he dies? 

12. Think about what you found out about yourself in our previous activity. What does your digital dossier say about you?

Standards Met

• Common Core Standards: ELA 6-8th Grade Standards: Reading 1; Reading for Informational Text 1, 4; Writing 2d, 3d, 5, 6, 8; Speaking and Listening 1bcd, 2.