Chapter 2 - Online Safety
IN THIS LESSON
What is social engineering?
Tips on staying safe online
What is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is the tactic of manipulating, influencing, or deceiving a victim in order to gain control over a computer system, or to steal personal and financial information. It uses psychological manipulation to trick users into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information.
Tips to Staying Safe
Check to see if you are on the official website.
Official websites have a recognizable domain and don’t have any additional unnecessary words
Look at visual cues. Reputable websites will have consistent branding and design that aligns with the organization’s established image
Check to see if the website you are on is secure. This is important for websites where you are putting in personal data or information like credit card numbers or address.
Secure websites will start with https: or have a lock icon where the url is
Do not download anything unknown or unfamiliar.
This can put you at risk for downloading malware. Sometimes you may be prompted to download an “anti-virus.” 99% of the time, you do not need to download one that is prompted to you.
Instead, ask the IT Team for assistance before downloading