Students at a Victoria middle school were taught a lesson in cyber security by B.C.'s Minister of Citizens' Services, Jinny Sims.
Sims went back to her teaching roots Monday, talking to Grade 8 students at Central Middle School about the importance of protecting their passwords and being careful with whom they are communicating with online.
“We know that cyber security is one of the biggest issues we now face,” said Sims. “It’s a trillion-dollar business worldwide.”
To drive her point home, Sims used an example that homeowners would never leave the house unlocked, windows open, inviting someone to come in and steal their stuff. Sims questioned why people would then leave their devices unprotected with poor passwords – or at times no passwords at all.
Sims is hoping that by speaking to Grade 8 students, they will learn lifelong lessons in protecting themselves in the future and even talk to their parents about cyber security.
The BC government gets hit with 240 million hacks or attempts to access data unlawfully every single day, Sims said.
"What does that tell you about cyber security?" Sims said. "This is not something that only happens during business hours. There are people out there who make their living by trying to hack into systems."
Thursday is Cyber Security Day, when internet users are encouraged to change their passwords.
