Google To Educate British Public On Online Safety

Google wants to teach the British how to stay safe online and to do that, the company is visiting five cities and over 30 schools over the next few months.

Google search insights have revealed Internet users in London, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester are the most frequent searchers of security related questions.

A survey of 2,000 people across the cities found over a quarter (27 per cent) of those surveyed 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.

According to the survey, 35 per cent of people are afraid that their personal information could be stolen by hackers and used by people pretending to be them. Almost a quarter (24 per cent) don’t use a password or a pattern lock to secure their smartphone, and one in ten reported their personal information has been used online without their permission

One in five, 22 per cent, either have or are unsure if they have given information to a website that seemed genuine but was not (such as imitation banking sites or phishing sites that looked very similar to the original)

Google also released most frequent security-related searches in the UK:

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?

Searches for some security questions have increased dramatically, according to Google data. The largest increases over the last few years have been:

• “Email been hacked” – up by over 5,000%
• “Phished account” – up by over 5,000%
• “Website scam check” – up by over 700%
• “Change my password” – up by over 300%
• “Identity theft protection” – up by over 250%
• “Find my phone”, “Find my lost phone” and “lost my phone” – all up by over 5,000%

Sign up for the first event in Leeds event is open online here.