The U.S. Embassy’ offices of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and the Information Resource Management (IRM) on Tuesday, October 29, organized a seminar for young people on cyber safety awareness. With the theme “Own IT, Secure IT and Protect IT,” the seminar commemorated ‘Cyber Security Awareness Month 2019’ and attracted students and teachers from ten secondary schools and two universities from Abuja.

In her remarks, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’affaires (CDA) Kathleen A. FitzGibbon advised students to take control of their internet image. “People can misuse your profile; therefore, you need to own who you are on the internet. You should be careful about what kind of picture you use because even if you take it down, it doesn’t mean it has not been seen or downloaded by someone, and it could be used against you.”

CDA FitzGibbon stressed the importance of protecting personal information. She said there are a lot of bad actors on the internet. “They are after your personal information, they are after your bank account information, and they are after you for other reasons. So, I want you to think of how much information you want to put out.”

The seminar was organized in partnership with the International Centre for Leadership Development Nigeria (ICLDNG), Office of The National Security Advisor Nigeria, and The Federal Ministry of Justice, Cybercrime Advisory Council.