News | Friday, 10th February 2017

Safer Internet Day 2017

Tuesday 7 February was Safer Internet Day 2017 - a day celebrating international efforts to make the internet a safer environment for children and young people. Schools all over the world held events and activities to promote awareness and share safety tips, while tech organisations and security professionals pitched in via Twitter with the hash tag #SaferInternetDay.

Never ones to miss a party, @MMU_IT joined the day with glee and a slew of interesting tweets. In addition to sharing our own excellent advice on security basics, spam and phishing and a reminder on where to go for help if you have any problems with your University IT accounts or equipment, we also shared some great advice from a range of experts.

UK Fast showed us how to create a safe password and why it matters, while The Next Web told us that tech company Vizio has just been fined $2.2 million for selling a smart TV that secretly harvests your data.

On a more scholarly note, Sophos's Naked Security blog presented an interesting ethical conundrum around the morals of remotely accessing your stolen laptop and nabbing the alleged thief's data… and new science and technology publication Motherboard published a truly chilling account of how Big Data can exploit your Facebook Likes to influence world events.

While Safer Internet Day 2017 was aimed at children, there was plenty to learn for anyone of any age. So enjoy our selection of educational reading above, make sure you keep yourselves as safe as possible, and be sure to follow @MMU_IT for help, support and information.