Dozens of Scottish children fell victim of cybercrimes every day in 2020, new figures revealed.
An estimated 90 cybercrimes against kids were recorded each day in Scotland last year, according to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Today, on Safer Internet Day 2021, cyber security experts and organisations are drawing attention to how young people can detect dangerous content and navigate the internet safely.
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Ciara Mitchell, head of cyber at ScotlandIS, said: “Keeping children safe online is a huge challenge for the digital and cyber industries and initiatives such as Safer Internet Day shine an important light on the issue.”
Young people in Scotland are being urged to help detect misinformation and inauthentic online content as part of today’s initiatives and ahead of CyberScotland Week later this month.
CyberScotland Week will take place between February 22 to 28 and will offer children across the country access to virtual events and tools to help them stay protected.
Professor Karen Renaud, from Abertay University, said: “With our children using the Internet more than ever due to the pandemic, it is absolutely vital that we inform and educate our young people, as well as their carers and teachers.”
Professor Renaud will be part of CyberScotland Week delivering a live webinar on measures needed in Scotland to keep children safe and secure online.
“By instilling good cyber hygiene from an early age, we can form positive behaviours that will safeguard our children’s cyber safety and security through their teenage years and into adulthood,” he said.
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The focus of this year’s CyberScotland Week events will focus on promoting digital safety in an accessible manner and to those with low IT confidence, including how to avoid scams.
CyberScotland Week is a partnership between the Scottish Government, local authorities, employment and business agencies, and ScotlandIS, the trade association for Scottish digital technology industries
View CyberScotland Week’s event schedule here.
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