An Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School student participating in the M&T Graphics Factory SHSM won a provincial cyber security poster design competition last week.
Olivia Stradiotto won the first ever Educational Computing Network of Ontario (ECNO) Security Poster competition, competing with students from every publicly funded school board.
Sponsored by ECNO and Fair Chance Learning, Ontario students were asked to illustrate and promote their understanding of data security, online privacy and best practices.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have been given with this contest, but also with this course. I feel like I have been able to expand my knowledge, skills, and appreciation for graphic design thanks to this wonderful program and I wouldn’t be where I am today without it,” shared Stradiotto. “I was really excited and proud of myself, knowing that my artwork won an Ontario-wide student contest. My family and friends have always shown their support for me and have encouraged me in pursuing art and design, so they were all super proud of me when they found out I won.”
Stradiotto spent classroom time in M&T Graphics Factory focusing on research, sketches and finally the layout of the poster. Her design focused on how she perceives of cyber security and cyber-attacks.
“Lots of cyber-attacks are based on baiting other people and luring them into the scheme. I wanted to include that as my main message for awareness and how to prevent it from happening to others,” she said. “My graphic revolved around the idea of online bait, so I created an image representing a fake email, with a message that not only would lure people in, but also potentially cause them some damage. To make the design even more effective, I added a fishhook holding the email, because this also represents fish being baited with worms.”
For her, participating in this contest was another way to use her creativity and skills, while bringing awareness to cyber attacks and how to prevent them.
“Students can be especially vulnerable to cyber-attacks, especially through email and social media. This contest gave me the opportunity to put my name out there. Even if I hadn’t won, professionals outside of school would still see my work, and I felt like that was a good step in the right direction for me and for my creativity,” she explained.
As a winner of the contest, Stradiotto received a Microsoft Surface Go Laptop, Google Backpack, Netscope speaker, Netscope Beat wireless headphones, Dell fan, Dell hand sanitizer, SecureLinks wireless speaker, Fortinet water bottle, Zscaler t-shirt and Netscope mug.