20
STAYING SAFE ONLINE
Specific actions undertaken by % of students in the sample to ensure their personal cyber security
•
A significant majority of Survey 2 respondents are creating strong passwords, being
cautious with their personal information and avoiding suspicious links and
attachments when online1. This represents an increase against 2018 eSafety research on
youth, kids and digital dangers which identified that only 67% of users actively manage their
online presence2.
•
This may be due to students’ increased digital maturity and exposure to online dangers, a
hypothesis supported by the survey, which showed 92% of students being able to correctly
identify potential phishing activities.
•
However, while students indicate an awareness of the need to be safe online, there is a
gap in acting on this. This is highlighted as 77% of students recognising the importance of
enabling two-factor authentication yet only 61% have actually set it up.
A large proportion of Survey 2 respondents are taking active steps to ensure they are safe online. By being cyber safe, students are empowered to explore, participate
and make informed decisions in the digital world, fostering positive digital identities and enhancing their ability to navigate the digital landscape with confidence. These
cyber security activities support a foundation for troubleshooting abilities through the effective identification of digital threats and vulnerabilities. However, student data
indicates troubleshooting technical issues is an area of digital ability which needs to be addressed.
1.
Self assessed by the student and is unable to be validated against government recommendations.
2.
The Office of the eSafety Commissioner, 2018, State of play – youth, kids and digital dangers, http://esafety.gov.au/about-the-office/research-library
3.
ACEReSearch, 2018, NAP sample assessment ICT literacy: years 6 and 10, 2017napictlreport_final.pdf
TROUBLESHOOTING ABILITY ACROSS RESPONDENTS
Student self-assessment of confidence level on a 1-5 scale
•
As identified in NAP-ICT research and corroborated by Survey 2 data, Australian secondary
students are less confident in their knowledge about how to troubleshoot issues and maintain
the functionality of their computers3. This is demonstrated as the average confidence rating
in troubleshooting issues by survey 2 students was 3.35 out of 5.
•
Over 18% of students encountered technical issues with their laptop over the 9 month
period since receiving their donation. Of these students, 15% were able to resolve the
issue(s) themselves, 62% with the support of friends/ family and 8% through WorkVentures’
technical support and concerningly 15% were unable to resolve their issue(s). This highlights
a need to upskill students in the maintenance, communicate the availability of WorkVenture’s
technical support and empower them to independently diagnose and resolve technical
problems to ensure efficient functionality and productivity of device use.
93%
61%
82%
85%
59%
43%
3%
Creating
strong
passwords
Using 2FA
Being cautious
with personal
information
Avoiding
suspicious links
& attachments
Regularly
updating
windows
Regularly
running
antivirus scans
Not taking any
of the listed
actions
3.6
2.8
3.5
2.9
3.3
St Johns Park
High School
Swan View
Senior High
School
Loganlea State
High School
Woodridge
State High
School
Wirreanda
Secondary
School
Students are taking precautionary actions to stay safe online, however many
are not confident in their ability to troubleshoot technical issues