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Youth Shield for Cybersecurity

2024-3-LU01-KA152-YOU-0002788642024Mobility of young peoplefinalized
Countries: LU|SK|HU|RS|RO|AT · Grant: €46,153
Digital safetyMedia literacy and tackling disinformationDigital skills and competences

Objectives

After a series of brainstorming sessions and discussions with friends, we came up with the idea for the "YouthShield" Erasmus+ project and later shared it with colleagues we had met in previous Erasmus+ projects. The project addressed the growing threat of cybercrime, which had become increasingly aggressive, particularly impacting young people... Our initiative responded to the alarming rise in cyber threats, including high-tech crimes, data breaches, and sexual exploitation, as highlighted by the Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA). Our analysis shown that Luxembourg's public prosecutors reported handling 3,700 cybercrime cases, predominantly involving internet and credit card fraud and phishing scams and we decided this topic is really needed to raise awareness, not only the young partiicpants but also our parents. As societies digitized, cybersecurity risks increased, necessitating effective measures to protect electronic data and systems. That was the point we started to build our "YouthShield" Erasmus+ project which aimed to gather young people about cybersecurity and promote safe digital practices, acknowledging that many youth lacked the awareness and skills necessary to navigate the online world safely. We believe our initiative sought to raise cybersecurity awareness, foster responsibility for safe online behavior, and encourage ethical digital citizenship. Key objectives of our project included raising awareness among 38 participants about the prevalence of harmful content, misinformation, and online harassment on social media and digital platforms, including those driven by AI, as well as enhancing the critical thinking, media literacy, and digital competence of 38 participants in total, empowering them to reflect critically on their online behaviors. Additionally, our project addressed the psychological and social impacts of violent online discourse, fostering discussions on how such language could lead to real-world violence and encouraging youth to engage in proactive solutions. Our project page that we designed together with group leaders: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552619574220

Project partners (6)