Teach children to avoid net viruses, not just paedophiles, urge IT experts

TECHNOLOGY experts have warned that Scottish pupils need to learn about online security as much as protecting themselves from cyber-bullying and paedophiles.

Tens of thousands of viruses, or so-called “malware”, are being created every day and “common sense” is more effective than anti-virus software, they say.

The warning comes after a major report found cyber security to be “patchy” across government and the private sector in Britain.

Experts at the University of Abertay in Dundee have been creating viruses as part of their ethical hacking courses to demonstrate to students, computer security professionals and business leaders how easy it is to do and the significance of the threat.

Dr Natalie Coull, a lecturer with the programme, said online tools allow the creation of new viruses within five minutes that major software packages such as Norton or McAfee will not pick up.

“People think because they’ve got anti-virus software that they’re protected and they can visit websites and open e-mail attachments,” she said. “Anti-virus tools will only provide you with some protection, but commonsense is far more effective.

“Children are very, very naive about these kind of dangers online. They are taught about online bullying and paedophiles, but they’re not aware of what happens if they download a virus. We have to start educating children from the beginning.”

The viruses or malware created online can do everything from reversing the left and right buttons of a computer mouse, to downloading the entire contents of your hard drive.

Dr Coull warned that while most viruses are not specific to an individual, they can be tailored if the criminal is willing to put in the effort. And with the availability of personal information such as through Facebook, attacks can go through friends and family to get at businesses or organisations.

A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.

Earlier this month, a report by the think-tank Chatham House on cyber security found in terms of the threat to the national infrastructure that “few, if any, organisations do everything right where cyber security is concerned”.

Dave Clemente, cyber security analyst with Chatham House, said: “There’s a computer at almost every desk and it would seem appropriate to include online security in the classroom.

“In ten to 20 years, cyberspace might not be more secure, but people will be more knowledgeable. If we can begin education now, it will reap future benefits.

“It is easy to have an over-reliance on technology and think security is a job for the IT department. With classrooms already online, that’s the point to include security.”

Education Scotland, which merges Learning and Teaching Scotland and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, pointed to resources on their website for teachers, parents and pupils about online safety.