Virginia District Takes Cyber Safety 101

Parents and faculty in the Flint Hill School community in Oakton, Va., can now take Cyber Safety 101, a course designed to equip them to help their families and the whole community stay safe online.

Every member of the Flint Hill School community whose PC, laptop, PDA or cell phone touches the Internet can benefit from this training: Cyber Safety 101 teaches how online criminals, scammers, adversaries, and hackers exploit technologies, systems and, most of all, the users themselves in the insecure cyber universe. The course is a joint project by QinetiQ North America and the Flint Hill School.

The training will cover:

• Introduction to the Internet. A non-technical explanation of how the Web actually works.
• Internet risks. An introduction to the dangers, weaknesses, and flaws that make your online systems a lot less secure than you thought they were, with a look at how they can be exploited, manipulated, and undermined.
• Your Internet footprint.  Awareness of how social media can be used to gain access within your circle of trust.
• Cyber crime. Attacking the user instead of the machine — the human element is the one link in the chain that technology cannot secure.
• Turning the tables. The practical active defenses we can apply to improve our safety on the Internet while harnessing its potential for education and productivity.

“We talk about ‘game changing’ innovations here at Flint Hill. We talk about putting ‘students first’ in our relentless drive for quality,” said John Thomas, headmaster of Flint Hill School. ”All of these traits come together as we roll out our 1:1 laptop environment. Cyber Safety 101 will help ensure this initiative is successful, safe, secure, and what is best for our children and the Flint Hill School Community. “