Philippine mobile services provider Smart Communications Inc.’s (Smart) CyberSmart online caravan, a digitized crime investigation adventure aimed at teaching Filipinos how to identify online threats and mitigate cybersecurity risks, trained over 32,000 “Cyber Warriors” in 2021.

Now on its third year, the CyberSmart online caravans, which included two nationwide runs and four regional runs, were held in time for the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in September and drew participants from schools, local government units, businesses, and the general public, amid increasing incidents of phishing attacks, online scams, and fake news.

Just like in the movies, participants played the role of cybersecurity agents and underwent rigorous training at the CyberSmart Investigation Agency. Through an interactive event, the Agents-in-Training were welcomed to a 360-degree lobby with animated elements, featuring cybersecurity advocacy programs and information drives. Invited speakers shared their expertise in three key areas — securing digital tools at home, promoting digital wellness, and understanding data privacy.

Participants were also granted access to a library of training materials from Smart’s partners, including cybersecurity e-learning courses developed by Smart hosted in the Innovations Academy for Disaster Awareness, Preparedness, and Training, or iADAPT platform, of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation.

Drawing 32,635 trainees from target communities and a livestream audience of 22,474 participants, Smart’s CyberSmart caravan was in collaboration with the Department of Education, National Privacy Commission, Internet Watch Foundation, Unicef, International Justice Mission Philippines, Google, University of the Philippines Open University, Mindanao Gold Star, Tech Sabado, and InnoPub Media, among others.

Article by Back End News