Stellar Cyber announces Don’t Click It, Pitch It! to educate teens about cyber safety
Stellar Cyber announced that it has established Don’t Click It, Pitch It!, a nonprofit initiative in collaboration with professional baseball organizations, focused on protecting children from cyber threats. Children are 51 times more likely than adults to be victims of identity theft, according to a 2023 study by Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab. In addition, one-third of US teens and adults had been recently hacked or scammed during 2022.
Aiming to educate five million teens about identifying potential threats over the next six years, Don’t Click It, Pitch It! aims to increase cybersecurity awareness for everyone. This program teaches individuals how to recognize and prevent cyberattacks (such as identity theft and data breaches) on their devices by showing them how to handle suspicious emails and text messages. It’s a recognition that technology alone can’t protect us; we must learn how to respond appropriately.
At first glance, phishing emails and messages may appear harmless, but clicking links in them allows hackers to steal sensitive personal information, and erodes user trust in technology and devices. Whether malicious emails feature tempting offers or pose as threatening messages, links clicked, or attachments downloaded can seriously compromise a user’s personal information. By 2030, Stellar Cyber hopes to teach over five million young adults how to identify and effectively prevent cybersecurity threats to protect their personal information and conversations. In today’s quickly evolving tech world, proper training and education are essential to restoring safety and trust in our online world.
Steve Garrison, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Stellar Cyber, knows all too well how frequently hackers target young adults and teens. His own daughter fell victim to a hacker when she was sent an offer that seemed too good to be true from the widely popular Instagram app. Garrison said, “We don’t often think about our children needing to worry about cyberattacks and having their information stolen, but it’s crucial that our next generation is aware and well prepared to handle these challenges. That’s why I wanted to start this program.”
Don’t Click It, Pitch It! teaches young people how to spot dangers and instills a proactive mindset toward cybersecurity. “The sooner we create global awareness around how hackers are targeting children,” Garrison added, “the sooner we put an end to ease of access for cybercriminals.”
Don’t Click It, Pitch It! is an all-volunteer initiative. Stellar Cyber has joined with other sponsors of this program, including professional baseball teams the Lake County Corn Dogs, Oakland Ballers, and Ogden Raptors. These partnerships expand the public platform for raising awareness for this cause – the Ogden Raptors alone draw over 150,000 attendees annually, 30% of whom are under 25 years old. All funds raised by Don’t Click It, Pitch It! will be directed to program affiliates 4-H and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Stellar Cyber has a track record of leveraging education to build partnerships that enable the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. Its University Program makes it easy for high schools, colleges and universities to add best-of-breed tools to any existing cybersecurity education program or add new cybersecurity coursework to their curriculum for the first time. Boise State University, Glendale Community College in Arizona, and other institutions have benefited from this program. Students who graduate from the program can also find employment opportunities in Stellar Cyber’s thriving community of Global System Integrators (GSIs), Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), and Managed Service Providers (MSPs), helping close the gap on over 750,000 open cybersecurity jobs in the United States and over 3.5 million open positions globally.
