CMU Introduces Community Cyberawareness Program

Carnegie Mellon University’s Information Networking Institute and CyLab will initiate this spring a community-wide cyberawareness outreach program at St. Bede School in Point Breeze to promote safe and responsible computing to teachers, children, parents and the general public at face-to-face educational workshops.

Dena Haritos Tsamitis of the CMU CyLab says school districts around the country and around the world are already accessing MySecureCyberspace.com for free on the web. Dangers to the computer like spyware, viruses and spam are highlighted, but even more important are techniques to keep children safe, says Tsamitis. One educational tool is a game called Carnegie Cadets that sends players on missions to learn how to avoid cyberbullying, identity theft and online predators.

The program also encourages dialogue about avoiding inappropriate websites--an unfortunate necessity in today's world, according to Tsamitis.

The program is funded by a $20,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation.