Sessions to focus on online safety

AN afternoon of workshops on internet scams, online hoaxes and conspiracies, and finding reliable sources of information will be held at the temporary Ballarat Library in the Town Hall next month.

The two sessions are set for Saturday 28 October, and the first starts at 2pm and run by Miguel D’Souza from the RMIT FactLab.

His focus will be on how to avoid hoaxes and scams on the internet.

The second session goes from 3pm will be led by Van Badham, author of QAnon and On: A short shocking history of internet conspiracy cults.

D’Souza is the community and partnerships lead at RMIT Crosscheck and said he will be taking people through a series of easy steps they can take to stay safe online.

“I’ll be starting with malware which is software that is designed to interrupt, damage or get unauthorised access to a computer,” he said.

“That leads to scams which are one of the lucrative ways that people who use malware discover vulnerabilities in computer systems.

“The core of what I’ll be doing is looking at some of the tricks, resources and tools you can use to keep yourself safe.”

A long-time journalist with Australian Associated Press, D’Souza has been a teaching fellow with the Google News Imitative where he taught reporters across Australia how to spot fake sources, images and video, as well as information verification techniques.

Looking beyond the workshop, he said the key to spotting and dismantling scams and hoaxes is the work of both the governments and individuals.

“I think the future is a combination of governments taking an active approach which they do already,” he said.

“The other part of that, and it’s where I come, in is how we use devices and computers.

“It’s about how we can insulate ourselves and our phone and computers and families against scams and malware.”

Over time, D’Souza said taking small steps to keep safe online should become easier for people to do regularly.

“It’s amazing what just a few simple measures that anyone can do and a little bit of a reinforcement about scepticism can do,” he said.

“It’s a little bit like learning to drive a car and after a while it becomes second nature.

“People don’t need to feel overwhelmed, I really want to stress that.”

Both D’Souza and Badham, the latter who’ll be chatting with Prue Bentley from the ABC Ballarat, will be at the temporary Ballarat Library in the Town Hall on Saturday 28 October.

Both sessions are free and to book a place visit events.humanitix.com/ballarat-libraries.