Data Defender
Your personal data is like the special stuff about you that you might share online, or keep private on your device. It's kind of like your virtual backpack full of things that make you, well, you! This can include your name, your age, where you live, what you like to do, and even pictures of yourself.
Just like how you wouldn't want everyone to see everything inside your real backpack, you also need to be careful about who sees your personal data.
Some bad people online might try to trick you into giving them too much personal data or even personal photos, and they might use it against you, like holding your personal photos hostage.
Being a data defender means taking charge of your digital well-being and being mindful of how you share, protect, and manage your data. It's like guarding your own virtual backpack of information in the online world.
What Is Personal Data?
Remember when we talked about having a long and strong password? It's like having a really secure lock on your digital door. This helps keep out anyone who shouldn't be in your online accounts.
Now, hackers also have really strong digital locks that they can sometimes use to lock you out of your own stuff, like your data! This type of bad lock is called ransomware, and you can think of it like someone putting their own bike lock on your bike.
Imagine if they then refused to unlock your bike until you gave them money. That’s kind of like how ransomware locks you out of your computer and data!
Just as a strong password helps protect your accounts, being cautious about what websites you visit and stuff you download is like keeping your digital door locked to prevent these digital troublemakers from getting in and locking up your data.
A Hackers Digital Lock!
How can you protect yourself against hackers that put a lock on your computer or device? You won’t be able to break the lock, but you could go around the lock with something called a digital backup!
Backups are like a safety net for your digital stuff, especially in case of tricky things like ransomware. Imagine if you had a magic copy of all your important things stored in a secret place. That's what backups do – they make a duplicate of your files, like photos, documents, and games, and keep them safe.
If a bad person tries to use ransomware to lock up your stuff, you can stay calm and ignore their demands for money because you can simply restore your files from the backup, making everything go back to normal.
Backups are a smart way to make sure you don't lose your important digital treasures, and there’s a really easy way to create one! You can make a copy of your digital treasures to something called an External Drive.
You simply connect an external hard drive (like a big USB stick) to your computer and copy all your stuff onto it. For this to protect you from ransomware, remember that it is something you have to do BEFORE hackers lock up your digital stuff!
Breaking Bad Locks!
You’ve learnt about your personal data, how hackers use ransomware to lock you out and how you can avoid their attacks by backing up your data. Now it’s time to take some action in the real world!
Watch this video to learn how to create a back up…
Call To Action!
