The term cyber wellness refers to the "positive well-being of Internet users and a healthy cyber culture for the Internet community. It involves an understanding of the risks of harmful online behaviour, an awareness of how to protect oneself and other Internet users from such behaviour, and a recognition of the power of the Internet to benefit oneself and the community at large." This means that it does not only concern around the safety and security of the things people do when they are online , but it also considers their psychological and emotional well being in the process too. The reason i am not surprised that Singapore youths are not using the Internet optimally and adopting cyber wellness practices is because in the world we live in now, no matter what age group you are, we tend to rely heavily on the internet for various purposes, as people would tend to use the internet to get the latest games and music. But the problem with this is that while they are doing that, they wouldn't bother to check the website they downloaded their stuff from, whether they are licensed or authorized or not as they would just deem any website thats hasnt been taken down to be legal. I think that is a serious misconception as from what i know, by going to unlicensed websites to download files will expose your computer to hackers and potential virus threats, which would not just mess up your computer files, but also gain access to your private information(passwords etc...) .
I think that there is enough real life stories in the various media to justify all of those talked about above. Therefore, we must take precaution against those cyber attacks or else we would end up being the next target. Some steps may include using anti virus software and firewalls, understanding security formats and doing regular checks on our own computer activities on the internet. In addition, Nanyang polytechnic have also opened up a GSM module for SBM students on Cyber Wellness too where the lecturers would teach the students on various ways to protect their computers from being hacked or attacked into.
In conclusion, it is essential to know all these as you would never know when are you the next target for the hackers or the next website you visit could potentially be a platform for hackers to prey on your private information. So, let's not misuse these technological advances and promote a culture of safe and responsible use of the internet today!
WEI JIE
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