Cyber Civility and Cyber Security are 2 Sides of the Same Coin

We mentioned in an earlier update that we would occasionally ask other members of the campus community to bring their insights as guest contributors.  Since October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, and at FIT October is also highlighted by Civility Week, we asked Dr. Ron Milon, Chief Diversity Officer, to discuss his views on the connections between online safety and online civility. 

Online safety and online civility are closely-related phenomena. Both rely on the anonymity and credibility of cyberspace to make someone believe something that isn’t true. In the case of cyber crime, attackers ask victims to believe that a fake email is real or that a malicious attachment is safe.  In the case of cyber incivility, the perpetrator tries to convince the victim that they are not a valuable member of the community, or that old sexist or racist tropes still have a place in our discourse. Attackers rely on pressure and fear to play on their victims’ emotions.  

The answer in both cases is self-confidence.  Trust that it’s OK to question the cyber-scammer who is using a barely plausible story to convince you to click on a link or enter information into a website.  Trust that the people who engage in online incivility are not doing it from a place of being constructive, and that while civil disagreement is critical to an academic environment and to democracy in general, name-calling and bigotry are not.  As counter-intuitive as it sounds, trust your own skepticism.

To further explore the connection between these issues, IT and Civility Week are jointly sponsoring a panel on Cybercivility in the Katie Murphy Amphitheater on October 22 at 12 Noon.  I will be moderating a broad-ranging discussion on how we all can become more safe and more civil online. I hope you’ll be able to join us.

Be civil and stay cybersafe! 

About Cybersafe
The Division of Information Technology is dedicated to informing the community of the latest cybersecurity threats. Visit fitnyc.edu/cybersafe and stay tuned for emails from [email protected] for the latest from the Cybersafe campaign at FIT.

About Civility week
From Monday, October 21 through Friday, October  25th—FIT will  hold its second annual“ Civility Week.”  Hosted by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, it aims to help us, as individuals and as a community, find respectful ways of living and learning in a higher education environment.  It is a week of rich and exciting programming—starting with a nationally renowned expert on diversity who will set the tone for the days ahead. There will be workshops, panels, and discussions on topics such as mindfulness, civil discourse in the classroom, race and cyber civility.   There will be movies and safe zone training, a panel on cyber civility and a day long “Diversity” Comic Con. You can learn more about the activities for the week at the Diversity Council website.

Walter Kerner
Chief Information Security Officer
Division of Information Technology
 

Read past issues of the CISO Updates Newsletter here.