Student lab familiarizes girls with cybersecurity on Girls' Day

Why do social media profiles get hacked so often? What is phishing? And why do security questions not improve security? Experts from the CISPA CysecLab will answer these and other questions at this year's Girls' Day on April 22 in two different workshops for schoolgirls in the 5th and 7th grades. 

Promoting girls with special activities is an important goal of the CISPA Cysec Lab. On this year's Girls' Day, the experts of the student lab introduce female students to the topics of web security and social media in two interactive workshops and let participants put what they have learned to the test right away.

The workshop "Cybersecurity - how to make sure your social media account remains your own" kicks off at 9 am. Students in grades 5 and up will learn what they can do to prevent someone from taking over their social media profile, how accounts are hacked and why attackers try to hijack accounts in the first place. 

At 11 a.m., the program continues with the topic "Internet blogs in the sights of criminals." In this workshop, schoolgirls in grades 7 and up will look at how attackers hack Internet sites and what girls can do to protect themselves from this. After all, it is not only the websites of large companies that are increasingly being attacked, but also simple blog pages.

The two events are offered via Zoom. Schoolgirls will receive the access link after registering. To participate, they need a laptop or tablet with Internet access. A webcam is desirable, but not a must.

The CISPA Cysec Lab participates in Girls' Day every year and sets up its own program for the occasion. The action day is a joint initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the Initiative D21, among others. The aim is to broaden the range of careers girls can choose from. According to the initiators, many schoolgirls make their career choices based on gender and influenced by social role models. Direct contact with various companies and exchanges with women who already work in more male-dominated professions are intended to encourage female students to choose their profession or field of study according to their individual interests and competencies - free of gender stereotypes.

All information about the CISPA Cysec Lab at the Girls' Day as well as the registration is available at: www.girlsday.de

The text was translated by: Tobias Ebelshäuser