September 12, 2019
Annual Poster Contest Helps Teach Kids about Cyber Safety - ITS Now Accepting Poster Submissions from Students Across the State
Thursday, September 12, 2019
The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) today launched the Annual New York State Kids Safe Online Poster Contest to engage young people in cyber security and help promote safe online practices. The contest, which is part of the National Kids Safe Online Poster Contest organized by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), is open to New York State students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The deadline for submissions is December 9, 2019.
"It is increasingly important to teach online safety in our schools and in our homes," said Joseph Rabito, Interim New York State Chief Information Officer. "Under the leadership of [former] Governor Cuomo, New York State is well positioned to respond to cyber threats, but we all play a role in keeping our information safe and secure. We are pleased to partner with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center on the Kids Safe Online Poster Contest to engage our children in discussions around cyber safety."
"The National Kids Safe Online Poster Contest allows our youth to educate their peers on how to stay safe online. The posters share tips for safe web surfing and the responsible use of social media platforms," said Thomas Duffy, MS-ISAC Chairman, and Center for Internet Security (CIS) Senior Vice President of Operations and Services.
The winning posters will be announced in early 2020 and will be featured in the 2021 New York State Kids Safe Online Calendar. The winners will be automatically entered in the CIS MS-ISAC national poster contest. Last year, four students from New York State were selected in the national contest.
The goal of the contest is to educate students about cyber security by encouraging them to creatively depict what cyber security means to them through artwork. The contest also serves as a tool to encourage teachers across New York State to reinforce cyber security best practices such as the appropriate use of text messaging, safe sharing on social networking and protecting their personal information.
For more information on the New York State Kids Safe Online Poster Contest or for additional information on how to stay safe online, please visit https://its.ny.gov/2019-2020-kids-safe-online-poster-contest.
About ITS
The New York State Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) was created in 2012 to transform IT services in an effort to make New York State government work smarter for its citizens and enable the state to be accessible for businesses through the use of technology. ITS provides statewide IT strategic direction, directs IT policy and delivers centralized IT products and services that support the mission of the State. ITS operates data centers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to support statewide mission-critical applications for over 50 Agencies, over 17 million citizen accounts, 120,000 employee accounts, 60,000 phones, 99,000 desktops and laptops, and 3,433 Virtual Desktop remote connections. ITS operates a secure network of over 1,600 miles of fiber to deliver telecommunications, Internet and Intranet services, enterprise email systems and support, IT training, networking, data storage and processing to State government entities in addition to developing new services in support of citizens, businesses and State Agencies.
For more information, visit https://its.ny.gov and follow us on Twitter @nysits.
Contact Information:
Alicia Biggs
518-474-9449