Lesson video

Hi, I'm Rebecca, your computing teacher for the collaborating online respectfully unit.

Now, this unit is all about learning how to work with others online, in a safe and respectful way.

For this lesson, you're going to need a pen and paper, and you're also going to need to move any distractions out of the way that you can just so that you can really focus today.

So, once you've done all of those things we can begin.

In this lesson, you will evaluate effective passwords, evaluate appropriate usernames and describe and assess the benefits and the potential risks of sharing information online.

So, to get you started, what makes a password secure? What advice can you give someone about creating a secure password? So, using your pen and paper, I want you to pause the video and make a list of points.

So, how can you make your password secure? The National Cyber Security Centre advises that your password should include three random words.

You can even add special characters and numbers to your password to make it more secure.

Here is an example of a secure password, and notice, you've got a number, either side, and you've got three random words in the middle there.

So, 9FishCloudRoad23, that's a very strange sentence, but it's meeting that criteria of those three random words.

A website has been created to demonstrate how secure a password is.

And what we're going to do is we're going to take a look at how secure these passwords on this list are.

This is the how secure is my password website.

Now, my one piece of advice is if you do find yourself wanting to go on this website, never put your real password in here because you really don't know where that password is going and what database it might be stored in.

So, always be very wary of these kinds of websites, but this is a really good one to show you how insecure some of those passwords were.

So, that first one was qwerty, and just take a look, I typed in qwerty and it says your password will be cracked instantly, and that's because it's right at the top of the list of really insecure passwords and hackers can use that password, it's probably one of the first ones that they'll try, and they've got databases of really popular passwords that they just run through to hack your account.

So, qwerty is a dreadful password to use if you want to keep your account secure.

The other one was 123456.

So, let's just see what happens.

123456, instantly again, because that's at the top row of your keyboard just going from left to right, are those six numbers.

It's really obvious password.

So, it really is not going to be the best one to use.

So, then we've got the one I had, in my example, which was 9FishCloudRoad23.

So, let's type that in and see what actually happens on this website.

So, 9Fish Cloud Road, and you can see it getting more and more, then I put 23.

So, it's now saying it'll take 37 billion years to crack this password.

And that is because it's such an unlikely password that people aren't going to use, and it's got those three random words in it, and it's also got those numbers, either side as well.

So, it makes it a really, really secure password.

So, you can see why the National Cyber Security Centre is giving you this advice to have three random words in your password to make it really secure.

You've come up with a really good password, but then you're like, "Well, how on earth do I remember this password?" And my advice is to make up a little story to help you remember it.

So, here, I've got a picture as well, I've got a fish, I've got a cloud and I've got a road, and that's going to help me remember it.

Now, you've got to be really careful where you put these pictures, but it might give you a little clue for your password if you do forget about it, and they're not going to remember those numbers, those numbers need to be significant to you, but not to other people and not easy to guess.

And then the other thing is come up with like a sentence.

So, I've got a sentence like this one, my nine year old fish saw a cloud from row 23.

So, if you can remember that, sometimes it's much easier to remember a sentence like that or a weird sentence like that than it is to remember the actual password, and then that'll jog your memory for the password.

So, that's a good idea to just get going with these secure passwords.

But what else can you do? Use a different password for your email account.

Normally a lot of your accounts are linked to an email account.

So, make sure that if they hack sort of one of the websites that you use, that they can't also then hack your email account.

'Cause if someone hacks your email account, they can usually hack a lot of other accounts as well that are linked to that email account.

So, make sure that that is the most secure and robust password that you've got for your email address, that is really, really essential.

Save your passwords in your browser.

So, if you use your browser on your computer, then it's only you using that computer.

Then you can save your passwords in the browser, and some people think this is less secure, but actually it's more secure because you don't have to keep typing it in all the time, it remembers it for you.

You can have much, much harder passwords that you don't need to remember because your browser is remembering them for you as well.

And it types them in automatically, which means that you can't have your key strokes logged on your keyboard and you type in a certain password every single time, which can be tracked.

So, it actually is a bit more secure to have it saved in your browser.

You could use two-factor authentication as well, and this is a really good one for things like your email account, those really secure accounts that you want to make sure that no one can hack, and that is usually linked to either another email address or a mobile phone, if you've got one of those, maybe you could ask your parent or carer if you could link them to their mobile phone, if they've got one.

So, it's really good idea, especially on those really sensitive accounts like your email, is to have that two-factor authentication setup.

And also keep your devices up to date because the more up to date they are, the less likely they are to be hacked.

Any operating system, they bring out updates all the time because of security flaws that happen and that make things more hackable.

So, they come up with ways to fix that and then they release an update, and if you instal those updates and you keep up to date, then you are much less likely to get hacked as well.

So, that's just another thing to keep you secure.

Revisit the advice that you wrote down at the beginning of the lesson.

And I want you to think, "Has it changed?" Add anything further that you have learned.

So, do that now.

Let's look at gamertags and nicknames.

If you have ever played a game online then you might have created your own gamertag nickname or username.

Reflect on why you think a gamertag or nickname is used instead of a real name.

So, just write that down in your notepad now.

Awesome.

So, gamertag is used to give you an alias online.

It is a way for your friends to identify you without revealing any personal details.

It also allows you to reflect a bit of your personality online too.

A gamertag should not reveal your identity or personal information.

Which of these gamertags could reveal some of a user's personal information? So, take a look at that list and see which ones you think, it might.

So, that's the answer.

So, the first one's quite obvious there, is SarahBrown2008, it might even, it's saying someone's full name and it might even be their year of birth as well, revealing their age.

So, that's quite a lot of personal information.

The next one, OakAcademySuperstar.

Now, that's revealing so many schools.

If you've got your school's name in your username, then that could reveal your school, and that reveals your location as well.

So, again, it's given away personal information.

The other two, quite friendly usernames, nothing malicious about those at all, and you wouldn't really know who they were at all from that information.

So, they're quite safe usernames to use.

Gamertags or nicknames can sometimes be seen as offensive to others or inappropriate.

Remember that account nicknames are a reflection of your personality.

So, which of these gamertags could be seen as offensive or inappropriate? Take a look at this list now.

Right, so, let's see which ones.

So, it's I hate girls.

So, that's not a really very nice thing to say, is it? If your gamertag is something that's quite rude to a group of people, then it's going to be seen as offensive to some people, and that's not a good thing to do for your username.

So, keep them really friendly.

Remember, your reflection of your personality, and don't be nasty about others in your username too.

So, gamertags or nicknames should hide your identity, that's the ultimate, but also be fun too.

So, keeping your online world secure.

If you play games online, then you might have your own characters and your own worlds that you have spent time creating and improving.

What do you think it is like for children that have their online worlds deleted or destroyed? And I want you to reflect on this for a moment.

So, you could write something down with your pen and paper now.

People can spend a lot of time building their worlds online, and if they get destroyed, it's almost like, to a child, it's almost like destroying their bedroom or their house or their home, and it's very, very personal to them or a piece of artwork that they've drawn in school and somebody just coming along and ripping it up, and it's a really, really sensitive thing for them, and it's a horrible, horrible situation to be in.

So, it's really, really important that you protect yourself from that happening to you, and that also that you don't do that to other people because it is just horrifically unkind thing to do.

So, you can have the right gamertag and a really secure password, but this does not always keep your game secure.

Can you think of other ways that you can keep your online presence secure in terms of, you know, gaming or on social media or anything like that? Let's have a look, so, in gaming communities, you can give people different levels of access to your world.

So, these are generally the access levels that you can have.

So, private means that no one at all can see it.

Friends only is just people that you have selected in your gaming community that can see what you've done.

And then friends of friends is a little bit more exposed because it might be someone's cousin or brother or sister or someone else's friend, and you might not know them very well, and you know, be quite, you don't know if you're going to be able to trust that person 'cause you don't know them directly.

So, it's a little bit of a trickier one to say, whether you should do that or not.

And then the other one is public and public means anyone can look at your information.

And that means, you know, for example, if you've created a world in an online gaming community and you set that world to public, then anyone can access that world and anyone can go in and destroy it and make changes, which is what we need to try and avoid.

So, we really need to think about the levels of access that we're providing to our online world.

And this means that you can keep your gaming experience hidden from people that are not friends in the non-digital world.

Gamers have been left heartbroken when they have created new worlds that have been set as public or friends of friends, their worlds have been destroyed in minutes by irresponsible users.

And that friends of friends is a key one because if you don't know these people and they can just, you know, randomly to come into your world, then they're not generally secure.

So, if it was me and I'd created something that I absolutely loved online, there is no way that I would give anyone access to it, maybe my really close friend that I really, really trusted.

And I'd probably have a different world where I want to be a bit more open about it and just play with my friends and maybe friends of friends.

But the more private you keep your online world, the more secure it's going to be.

Always check your privacy settings when gaming to keep your account secure is really, really key.

So, the same is also true for social media.

As you get older, you will probably want to start using social media platforms to stay in touch with your friends, and your parents or carer will be able to help you decide if you are ready to use social media platforms, and under care and guidance, you must be 13 years old to use them.

Social media platforms allow you to post all sorts of information about yourself online.

If you make your information publicly available, then strangers could use it to get in touch and lie about sharing the same interests as you.

You could also write something as a young person that you might regret when you get older.

The information that you present online could be used by potential employers to decide if they want to give you a job.

So, think really carefully about what you publish online and make public as well for people to look at, because if a future employer looks at it and you've said something nasty or offensive to people, then it's highly likely that you're not going to get employed by that person that's seen what you've done online.

In order to keep your online world secure, you should use a strong password, use a nickname that does not reveal your identity, you should check your privacy settings, and it's also responsible to be careful about what you post online.

So, pause the video to complete your task.

What I want you to do is write a letter to a Year Six child explaining how they can keep their account secure and why it is important.

So, do that now, please.

Brilliant.

I hope you've picked up some tips in this lesson for really how to keep your online world secure, and also that you've thought about a really good password, and hopefully you'll go and change your passwords if you were using any of those ones like qwerty or 123456, and you've thought of a much more sensible one that you can use.

Now, if you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak, 'cause we'd really love to see those letters that you've written to a Year Six child.

So, well done today, really proud, you've worked super hard and I'll see you soon.