New campaign to highlight need for internet security

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan has today launched the makeITsecure campaign.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of IT security amongst Irish internet users. The campaign, which is being run on an all Ireland basis for the first time, is led by a public/private consortium and will run for two weeks.

The Minister also launched very research into usage patterns amongst Irish home internet users, which was carried out as part of the campaign.

The aim of this year’s campaign is to specifically address and educate people about issues that they face online on a day to day basis such as phishing, spyware, identity theft and security issues when social networking.

Research shows that less than half of all internet users understand the term “phishing”. According to the iReach 2008 IT Security Report, phishing attacks will increase to an unprecedented level for this year.

Phishing involves attempts to fraudulently extract sensitive information from computer users by pretnending to be communicating from a supposedly trustworthy organisation, such as a bank, for example.

Other iReach findings indicate that almost every third internet user has experienced some form of online threat in the past.

Research carried out by Espion demonstrated that an average computer connected to the internet is subject to an average of 298 attempted attacks each day.

“It is important that these kinds of statistics don’t deter people from using computers or surfing the Internet as these are now invaluable tools for business, leisure, education and communication,” said Minister Ryan.

“The aim of the make IT secure campaign is to ensure that all ICT users are encouraged to continue to use the technology, but to ensure that when doing so, they are taking the precautions to protect themselves especially when online.

“As the internet becomes ever more ubiquitous in Irish homes, users have the opportunity now to access the educational and social benefits it offers.

“It is for this reason that makeITsecure consortium has come together for the third time to ensure that the campaign will have a lasting effect in terms of helping internet users in Ireland to take advantage of all that the internet has to offer while ensuring that they have the necessary knowledge and information to protect themselves when they go online.”

It has also been announced that the Internet Advisory Board will launch its booklet aimed at educating parents whose children are engaged in social networking.

The campaign will also feature a seminar on February 22 for parents which will include contributions from John Carr, an international expert on social networking and Dr Rachel O’Connell, safety officer of popular social networking site, Bebo.

The campaign, which is being held for the third time, is being run by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in the Republic of Ireland and the Department of Finance and Personnel, led by the Peter Robinson in the North.

The makeITsecure campaign messages will be communicated through extensive advertising, marketing and PR campaigns over the next two weeks.

A booklet with IT security information and advice will be distributed to more than 900,000 users in the country by newspaper insert and dedicated IT security supplements.

Details of all initiatives taking place as part of the campaign are available on www.makeITsecure.org.