About This Lesson
Does it seem like there have been more terrifying news stories lately chronicling data breaches and leaks of sensitive information? This is not because the government isn't doing its job to protect us — it means that the world has become heavily reliant on technology, forcing hackers to keep up. You know that there's no going back now that we depend so much on technology to help us in our lives, so it's especially important to do our part in protecting ourselves in our bank. Your students don't want to be one of those scary news stories.
Have a Clear Understanding of Security Measures
Of all places, students would expect the bank to be one of the most secure places you could ever visit online. Of course, though, there is no such thing as a perfect security system. If students are worried about their information staying secure at their bank, get someone who works at a bank to come talk to your class and explain how security works at a bank.
Ask Questions
Sometimes when you speak to a representative, they tend to casually throw around a lot of technical jargon that's just confusing. It would be a good idea to go over what some of those terms mean with your class. Also have your students come up with their own questions about banking such as, "What is TLS? How do I know what’s safe for me or not? How do finances work?" This is a great way to teach your students about finances and security.
Teach Them To Avoid Phishing Scams
Phishing is a phony text or email trying to extract data from users. It might say something like "Dear client, there has been a breach to your bank account. Please reply to this email with your account number and social security number." Sometimes scammers target a specific bank or financial institution, so if a large number of clients let the bank know then there is often a warning on the website. Teach to your students how to report a phishing scam and some key things to look for:
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Misspelled words and incorrect grammar, i.e.: "There has been a breach to your Bank Account." It might seem silly and obvious to your students, but not everyone catches errors like these at first glance.
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Generic information like "Dear client" and not a name. Some scammers are very good at Photoshop and can make these pages look very convincing, but be wary of any email sent from a bank — especially if there's nothing specific to it.
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Suspicious email addresses. No bank is going to email from a Gmail address, for example, even if the address is GenericBankName@gmail.com.
Creative Passwords
There's a proverb that passwords should be like underwear: Keep them private, change them often and please, don't share them with anybody. This is a strangely effective simile and puts things into perspective. Tell your students to follow the basic rules when picking a password:
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Don't use the same password for everything, and use a completely unique one for websites dealing with finances. Hackers know how to notice patterns and once they realize you used the same password variant twice, you will likely use it again.
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Mix up the characters you use. Include special characters, symbols and numbers, but don't only use them in the obvious places like the first and last character of your password. One tip is a city and zip code, but out of order: "Beverly90210hill$."
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Avoid common passwords like the name of your first pet. These are often security questions and you don't want anyone getting the information who doesn't need it.
It's scary to imagine being the victim of identity theft, but that's why it's so important for students to be proactive to avoid it in the future.
