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Primrose Chibharo Youth Interactive Writer
On October 12, I had the privilege of being among 42 Harare High students to visit the United States Embassy to commemorate cybersecurity awareness.
Larry Socha, the embassy’s public affairs officer, told us that his country is one of the countries that has witnessed cybersecurity attacks as a result of individuals trying to gain unauthorised access to Government information.
As such it was imperative for everyone to ensure that they secure their networks as any vulnerability in our online networks would also endanger others.
We met various experts who talked about cybersecurity, cyberspace, the risks of being online, cybersecurity basics, robotics and, ways to become streetwise.
It was an honour to meet and listen to Cade Zvavanjanja, a cybersecurity and digital forensic expert.
Zvavanjanja has worked on cybersecurity in over 15 countries and knows the subject well.
He spoke about cybersecurity and cyberspace.
According to him, cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks and cyberspace is when people, the internet, and cyber interact.
He mentioned that when digitals interact with other systems, a weakness is produced.
From his presentation, he encouraged us to create a network of people within our systems as you may never know who you will need in the future and this statement was based on the experiences he encountered to become a cyber-criminologist expert.
Edith Utete and Loveness Nleya who are the founders of Wellness Africa spoke about the risks of being online by mentioning the 5Cs:
λ C-contact (one should be aware of the people that they are coming in contact with.)
λ C-conduct (what you are doing online.)
λ C-content (what you are making online.)
λ C-commercialisation (being aware of the sponsored adverts online.)
λ C-community (the people who are around us.)
Above all, they encouraged us to be productive on the internet rather than browsing through without doing anything productive.
Nigel Kanengoni, system admin of the US Embassy, taught us about the cybersecurity basics.
These basics include the making of strong passwords.
He mentioned that when making a strong password, we must not reuse our passwords or include personal identifiers.
Kanengoni also spoke about the MultiFactor Authentication (MFA) which requires us to use two or more verification factors to gain access to a source.
He told us to update software regularly as these provide new and improved functionality reasons which include that it patches the security flaws.
He later encouraged us to be aware of phishing which is the practice of sending fraudulent communication that appears to come from a legitimate source as these attackers aim to steal money and gain access to sensitive data.
The biggest lesson of my visit is one I would like all students to embrace- secure your network online and secure the world.
Every cyberattack usually begins with one reckless user.
Let’s be alert.
Online Reporter