Cyber Safety, Ethics and Digital Citizenship
Cyber-safety and ethics questions test safe online behaviour, legal awareness and responsible digital citizenship.
Threats and safe practices
Cyber safety protects people, devices and data. Common threats include malware (virus, worm, Trojan, ransomware), phishing, pharming, spyware and social engineering. Strong defences are unique passphrases, multi-factor authentication, timely updates, backups, antivirus, firewalls and caution with links and attachments. Encryption protects confidentiality; hashing verifies integrity but is not encryption.
Ethics and digital citizenship
Digital citizenship covers respectful online behaviour, privacy, copyright and legal responsibility. Plagiarism is presenting others’ work as your own; cite sources and respect licences. A digital footprint persists. Cyberbullying and sharing private images can have legal consequences. In India, the Information Technology Act, 2000 addresses offences such as identity theft (s.66C), cheating by personation (s.66D), publishing obscene material (s.67) and breach of confidentiality (s.72).
Worked example
An email says 'Your account will be closed in 2 hours. Click this link and enter your password and OTP.' Red flags: urgency, an unknown link, a request for a password or OTP, and a generic greeting. Correct action: do not click; open the service directly through its official app or typed address; verify through support; report the message. Legitimate organisations do not ask for OTPs.
Traps that cost marks
- Equating HTTPS with 'the site is honest'; it only encrypts the connection.
- Sharing OTPs or passwords with support staff.
- Calling copyright infringement just copying.
- Assuming deleting a post erases screenshots or backups.