Dib dib dib, hack hack hack: Scouts get Digital Citizen badge

Education is vital to drive real change in how cybersecurity risk is understood and mitigated. The earlier age that education starts, the better. So, when I saw that the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) had created new Digital Citizen badges that can be awarded to Scouts between the ages of eight and 14, to say I was overjoyed would be an understatement.

These are exactly the kind of ages, the kind of young minds, that we need to get engaged with cybersecurity. And making it both fun and a challenge with a viable reward upon completion is the perfect way to engage them.

The Scouts motto is, famously, “Be Prepared”. However, head to the Scouts homepage and you’ll discover that this is expanded as a mission statement to “preparing young people with skills for life”.

And if you head to Digital Citizen area in the Scouts site you’ll discover that this is no gimme.

Scouts Digital Citizen badge

To earn the Digital Citizen badge, Scouts will need to develop four new skills, decided in partnership with the NCSC:

• creating a strong password
• spotting a phishing email
• understanding the key principles of cybersecurity
• understanding the importance of data backups

As Sarah Lyons, Deputy Director for Economy and Society at the NCSC, said: “By equipping Scouts with essential knowledge about online safety, we help ensure they can protect themselves against cyber threats and make informed choices in an increasingly digital society.”

This is not only vital in their personal and school life but beyond as they break into the world of work.

“In 2024, it’s just as important to know how to keep your data safe as it is to work in a team or navigate using a map,” said Sally Milner, Scouts Partnership Manager. Although I’d query the map navigation part if I’m anything to go by; smartphones and satnav mean that I’ve long since forgotten more than I ever knew about longitude and latitude.

However, the point stands: cyber skills are transferable from the Scouts to the classroom to the working environment. The sooner we get the “stay secure” message across to our youth, the better the chances of them eventually helping to mitigate risk in the workplace.

“We need to see more initiatives like this where children are taught from a young age about online safety,” said Mark Robertson, CRO of Acumen Cyber. “Just like cycling proficiency exercises in school, children need to be proficient in the online world as well.

“I hope this initiative encourages more schools to replicate the efforts made by the Scouts.”

More cybersecurity news

• The shift towards identity-first security strategies
• Hackers beware: UK data centres now have critical national infrastructure protection
• Don’t fall for these DDoS myths