Google Roadshow To Train UK For Online Safety

Google is doing its bit to promote online safety and security after the search engine giant announced a country-wide roadshow in the UK.

The roadshow aims to train 10,000 Brits, and workshops will take place in five cities where Google has identified the most security related questions are asked.

Security Hotspots

Those cities include London, Leeds, Boston, Birmingham and Manchester and the search engine giant will conduct the workshops over the coming three months. The first workshop will take place in Leeds on August 7.

Google will also undertake workshops in 30 schools in the UK, begining in September.

The workshops will allow people to ask Google staff questions, but attendees will also be able to book a one-to-one private consultation with a Google Security Ambassador. Google security experts will also offer their best practice tips on how to keep anyone’s personal data safe and secure.

Google said that people in these five cities had asked the most security-related questions such as “how secure is my password?” and “how do I change my gmail password?”

Google recognised the need for the workshops after its search results revealed that security related searches have increased dramatically in the last few years.

It said that searches for “Email been hacked” and “Phished account” are both up by over 5,000 percent. “Find my phone”, “Find my lost phone” and “lost my phone” searches were also up by over 5,000 percent.

“This is the first time we’ve ever done anything like this, knowing so many Brits are searching for information on how to keep their online data secure,” said Laurian Clemence from Google UK. “Our workshops will cover best practices directly from Google’s privacy and security experts on how they can safeguard their passwords, update their account settings, find a stolen device, and check where they are sharing their data in just two minutes, from one place. Anyone can sign up, starting today.”

“With a marked increase in phishing, identity theft and consumer data breaches, it is now more important than ever for people to understand how to best protect themselves and their sensitive data,” said Raj Samani, CTO EMEA at Intel Security.

“Just this year Intel Security discovered that 57 percent of UK consumers do not believe it is their responsibility to protect their own devices, showing that work needs to be done to educate,” said Samani. “It’s great to see companies such as Google spearheading specific community events to further engage and educate consumers on the keys to keeping themselves safe online.”

Smartphone Complacency

Speaking of surveys, Google also took the time to conduct a survey of 2,000 people, which revealed that over a quarter (27 percent) of people have had online services they use, such as an email account or online bank account, hacked or targeted by hackers in the last two years.

Yesterday corporate executives admitted they face daily or weekly cyberattacks on their businesses.

Meanwhile the Google survey also revealed that over a third of people (35 percent) admitted they were afraid their personal information, such as password(s), bank details, or emails, could be taken by hackers and used without their permission or used for identity theft.

And it seems that us Brits are still very lax about the security for our smartphones, after 24 percent of respondents admitted that they do not have any kind of security, such as a 4-digit code, pattern lock, or fingerprint scan, to secure their smartphone.

This is despite the fact that an increasing amount of important personal information being stored on mobile devices.

And the survey found that one in ten people have reported their personal information has been used online without their permission. One in five (22 percent) either have or are unsure if they have duped into handing over information to a website that seemed genuine but was not (such as phoney banking sites or phishing sites).

Google also revealed the top ten searches in the UK regarding online security:

1. How secure is my password?
2. How do I change my gmail password?
3. How to find my phone
4. What is e safety?
5. How do I stay safe online
6. What is 2-step verification?
7. How does find my phone work?
8. What is the best internet security?
9. How do I enable 2-step verification?
10. How do I stay safe from online fraud?

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