Professor Yeslam Al-Saggaf and Ms Julie Maclean, Director NAB published in the The Conversation.

Congratulations Professor Yeslam Al-Saggaf and Ms Julie Mclean, NAB Director for publishing an article in the Conversation. The article highlights that eSafety research revealed six in 10 children talked to someone they met first online. As part of a project funded by the eSafety Commissioner, we delivered hands-on cyber-safety lessons in seven high schools in regional NSW reaching about 4,460 children. In those lessons, we showed children how to turn off their Bluetooth, how to switch off their Wi-Fi, how to change their Bluetooth name, and how to switch off their location services. We conducted surveys before and after the lessons to see if the intervention was effective in raising children’s awareness about cyber safety. The surveys’ findings revealed significant improvement in children’s knowledge of smartphone settings, a more cautious attitude towards using their real names on their smartphones, and a heightened awareness about physical safety. Interestingly, females lagged behind males in terms of knowledge of smartphone security but both continued to leave their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on for convenience.