The Sultanate along with the rest of the world marked Safer Internet Day on Tuesday under the slogan “Together for a better Internet”. The Safer Internet Day falls on first Tuesday of February every year. The ITA, represented by the Oman CERT is organising the “Challenge” competition as part of child online protection programme; targeting children aged 12 to 18 years. It is based on solving a series of puzzles in the field of information security with the participation of 10 teams from Governorate of Muscat schools. A number of lectures and awareness workshops will also be organised in some private schools, in which children will be targeted to raise awareness of some aspects of the positive uses of the Internet and the best ways to deal with some IT crimes such as bullying and extortion.
The celebration of Safer Internet Day came as an initiative from the European Union and the European Organization for Internet Awareness (ISEF) in 2004 to promote joint action among the countries of the world to raise awareness of the Internet risks, and warn against bad usage and its legal consequences, ethical and behavioral standards and regulations when using the Internet. The Sultanate, represented by the Information Technology Authority (ITA), has participated in the celebration of this day since 2014 through a number of awareness activities and educational sessions targeting parents, teachers and children aged 5-18 years, in cooperation with government entities including Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social Development.
