Cyber safety is more about awareness than technology, but that message is not being communicated effectively, says James Lyne, director of technology strategy at Sophos.
"We need to change the way we communicate this message," he told the EastWest Institute's Second Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit in London.
Lyne was reporting the outcomes of the EWI's International Youth Congress on Digital Citizenship held earlier in the week. The youth congress was aimed at bringing young people with government, business and technical leaders to discuss solutions to universal internet challenges.
Teaching skills for internet security
It is clear from the congress that we have to move towards greater cyber literacy in society through teaching the necessary skills at an early age, says Lyne."Participants at the youth congress agreed that cyber safety must be communicated through a variety of ways, and that young people are more likely to listen to peers than anyone else," he said.
Lyne says there is a case to be made for a public-private initiative to enable passionate role models to speak in schools about why internet security is an interesting profession.
Technology will continue to develop at a rapid rate, criminals will continue to carry out attacks, so this is not something that will disappear in a generation, he says.
| Recommendations from the EWI Youth Congress on Digital Citizenship |
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Read more from the EastWest Institute's Second Worldwide Cybersecurity Summit:
- Cyber attack could bring nation to its knees, BT chairman tells cyber security summit
- Francis Maude calls on public to tackle cybercrime as public services go online
- Cyberweapons part of UK's national armoury, says armed forces minister Nick Harvey
- How can businesses be secure and successful in cyberspace?
- How cybersecurity is linked to economic security
