International Internet day | Celebrate And Protect Our Connectedness

This International Internet Day we celebrate that the world is more connected than it’s ever been and we strive to protect that global connectedness!

Internet History

International Internet Day is an annual event that has been celebrated across the world since 2005. The celebration occurs on October 29th because that marks a momentous day in the history of the internet—the day the first electronic message was transferred from one computer to another back in 1969. It commemorates a time when accessing and sharing information wasn’t as simple as a google search or video call.

A young researcher by the name of Charley Kline, transmitted a message containing the world “login” from a computer positioned at UCLA to one at Stanford’s Research Institute. Unfortunately, only the letters L and O were transmitted before the whole system crashed. Since that day, we’ve come to a point where the internet is one of the most important parts of lives, that most of us cannot imagine doing without.

The internet is a tool and a gift that we must learn to use well, one that has the power to unite us. International Internet Day is open to everyone and celebrates the equal opportunity we have to share knowledge and services, and ultimately, stay connected to each other.

How To Stay Safe On The Internet: Some Quick Tips

Let’s look at some ways we can connect and share online while keeping ourselves safe!

• When you are browsing online it’s important to look for the padlock symbol to the left of the URL of the website you are visiting. This means the website browser is encrypted with HTTPS protocol, which ensures that the data being sent from your device to the site is unable to be read by outsiders.
• Another method to stay safe is to use an ad-blocker. This will help reduce the number of online ads you see which are often a vehicle for malware attacks. It will also increase your browsing speed and reduce your data usage, making your browsing experience more enjoyable. Learn more about how and why to use ad-blocking software aquí.
• If there’s a site you use often, bookmark it to prevent typosquatting. This guarantees that you will return to the correct site, and not a slightly different URL that a fraudster has registered to deceive users. Check out this video tutorial on how to use browser bookmarks.
• Learn the tips and tricks to recognize scams and be aware of what the most common kinds of scams are so that scammers can’t take advantage of you. These include phishing scams, romance scams, robo de identidad, investment scams, extortion scams, and more.
• Always make sure you are browsing the internet from a secure wi-fi connection. That means making sure your home connection is private and only using public wi-fi when necessary for certain tasks, but never for online banking or tasks where you must enter personal information. Check out tips on how to secure your home wi-fi network aquí and tips for using public wi-fi safely aquí.
• Be careful who you trust on the internet. It’s a good way to connect to many people you already know, but it’s important to be wary of strangers.
• It’s important to create strong and unique passwords for all your online accounts. Password managers are an extremely useful method for tracking them, and can even create randomly generated passwords for an extra layer of security. Learn more about what password managers are and how to use them aquí.
• Be pseudonymous. It’s okay to lie about specific things online. Rarely does a platform actually need to know your birthday, and your security questions don’t have to be true as long as you can use a password manager to remember them. Learn more tips about online anonymity aquí.
• Learn to skim privacy policies for key pieces of information so that you know what you’re agreeing to. There are 4 key words to look for and you can learn about them aquí.
• Manage your online reputation and digital footprint well. That means being careful about what kinds of things you post and comment online, and even what websites you visit, because once you do something online, it never fully disappears.

Help Your Kids Stay Safe On The Internet

Attention parents! It’s especially important to teach your children different ways to stay safe online. Here at KnowledgeFlow, we’ve developed many learning resources for kids and their families. Learn about how kids can stay protected on the internet and types of parent controls you can implement to add an extra layer of security for your children.

• Safe Searching Online For Kids: 5 Ways Kids Can Stay Safe (knowledgeflow.org)
• 4 capas de control parental para mantener a sus hijos seguros en Internet (knowledgeflow.org)
• See our Complete Guide To Parental Control And Digital Settings (knowledgeflow.org).
• Have an educational and fun family night by playing a game with our What’s the Harm? flashcards.

Appreciate What The Internet Can Do 🥳

With the new safety and protection tips you just learned, here are some ways to celebrate our connectedness:

• Make a cool Instagram reel that brings a smile to your friends’ faces.
• FaceTime your grandparents or your grandkids who miss hearing from you. Here’s a bonus resource on how to stay safe while doing so.
• Learn things from those YouTube experts, online encyclopedias, and educational blogs, while keeping human biases in mind.
• Book that vacation to Mexico right from your phone, following these online shopping safet tips.
• Send your friend those pictures they’ve been waiting for.
• Trade stocks or buy a new stove without leaving your house.
• Email that professor or send that LinkedIn message about a job interview.
• Celebrate the internet and all the ways it keeps our world connected!