Security experts have called for IT security education to be made a major part of school computing courses, with greater funding allocated to ensure users learn how to surf and interact online safely.

Speaking at this year’s RSA Conference Europe show in London, Ken Silva, chief technology officer of VeriSign, said that financial institutions and online organisations such as PayPal are taking positive steps to improve the security education of their customers, but there is still a vacuum at school level.

“Kids are taught how to use computers, but not necessarily how to use them safely,” he said.

“There also needs to be an international campaign to educate users – we get government campaigns around seatbelt safety and smoking but not online security.”
Mark Stanhope, e-crime senior manager at Lloyds TSB, said that millions of pounds are spent on IT education, but only a fraction is allocated to information security.
“If nothing is done on this, then in 20 years’ time, we will be in exactly the same place,” he said.

Jamie Cowper, marketing manager of encryption firm PGP, said that educational resources such as Get Safe Online already exist, although perhaps they have not been publicised enough. He said security software is becoming more intuitive and easier-to-use by consumers, which will also help improve protection online.

“Encryption, for example, is not a consumer tool but it will be,” said Cowper. “The software-as-a-service model will help remove the complexity of security.”