Oz govt's no-cost, no-jargon service warns against cyber threat

Melbourne, June 7 : Australian government has launched a no-cost, no-jargon Internet service that alerts computer users to cyber threats.

The plain-English 'Stay Smart Online' alerts service has been provided by the nation's Computer Emergency Response Team.

The service will help home and small business users secure their own PCs against rising levels of cyber-scams and fraud.

It is the first time ordinary computer users have been offered access to information about local and global threats through a government agency.

"While the Internet is fascinating and useful, people have to be smart about online safety," The Australian quoted Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, as saying.

"We're wanting to fire out warnings on the latest risks, and give people the information they need to protect themselves.

"Because this is an area where there's a lot of jargon, and a lot of confusion, we want to send clear, simple messages on threats and vulnerabilities that people can act on," he added.

Senator Conroy, who will launch the service in Canberra on June 7 at the start of Australia's first National E-Security Awareness Week, said people often did not realise how much information they were sharing on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, or professional sites like LinkedIn.

ANI