Welcome to our Cybersecurity Awareness Month blog series! Throughout this month, we'll discuss how online security starts even before you log on. We'll expand the conversation to explore how everyday, real-world habits—from what you put on a backpack to how you secure your office—impact your online safety. Our goal is to empower individuals, families, and businesses with simple, proactive practices to protect both your digital and physical lives. Join us each week as we uncover what it truly means to be secure in a connected world.
On my commute one morning, I noticed a student in her school uniform. Hanging from her backpack was a clear cardholder with her transit pass inside. In bold letters, it showed her full name. To most people on that train, it probably didn’t mean much. But to me, it set off alarms. That small detail wasn’t just a card; it was personal information on display in a very public space—information anyone could see, remember, or misuse.
I gently caught her attention and suggested she flip the card around so her name wasn’t visible. She thanked me and did just that. What stayed with me wasn’t her reaction, but the realization of how common this kind of exposure is. It highlighted a bigger issue: how often we unintentionally share personal details without thinking about the risks.
Every year, especially at the start of the school season, I see countless examples. Backpacks embroidered with children’s names. Lunchboxes taped with emergency contacts. Cars decorated with stickers proudly showing the schools, clubs, and sports teams kids belong to. These gestures come from good intentions—parents want their children to be safe, identifiable, and reachable in case of an emergency. Yet, in today’s connected world, those small details can become breadcrumbs for someone who doesn’t have good intentions.
When most people think about cyberattacks, they imagine hackers breaking into systems with sophisticated tools. But the truth is, it’s often much simpler. Many attackers don’t begin with a piece of software; they begin with the information we willingly give away. A name on a backpack, a bumper sticker that reveals a school, a social media post about where the soccer team is playing this weekend—individually, these details may feel insignificant. Together, they form a puzzle. And once those pieces are connected, they can be used in troubling ways.
A stranger armed with just a child’s name and school can impersonate a teacher, coach, or administrator, reaching out to a parent with requests that sound legitimate. Someone who knows a child’s hobbies and routines can use that knowledge to strike up conversations online, building a false sense of trust. Criminals who gather enough personal data can even steal a child’s identity, opening credit accounts or filing fraudulent claims—damage that may not be discovered for years. And because many systems, including school or health portals, still rely on simple security questions like a child’s school or city of birth, even those details can open the door to unauthorized access.
The lesson here is that cybersecurity doesn’t begin with firewalls or passwords. It begins with the choices we make in everyday life—what information we reveal, where we reveal it, and who might be watching. Protecting our families doesn’t always require technical expertise. Often, the most effective steps are the simplest ones: leaving names off backpacks and lunchboxes, thinking twice before posting details about our children online, and being mindful about how much of our routines and identities are visible to strangers.
The line between the physical and digital world is thinner than ever. A name on a backpack or a sticker on a car may seem harmless, but to someone looking for an entry point, it’s an invitation. True cybersecurity starts long before we log in. Sometimes, it begins with something as small as flipping a card around on a backpack.
