Need "Internet Driver's License": 'Father Of Internet' On Online Safety

Internet becoming an increasingly unsafe place where people can lose money and more, 'Father of Internet' Vint Cerf told NDTV today that he has often advocated an "Internet Driver's license", which could be something like a driving license.

Asked if he was worried about the future of internet where a scammer seems to be around every corner, he said, "The red flag of suspicion should be flying".

"If you get a request for money or some other kind of help, and it has an urgency built into it and everything else. The red flag of suspicions should be flying. You should be asking questions about where did this come from," Dr Cerf, who is also the Chief Internet Evangelist of Google, told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
 
"You probably have heard the term phishing... People send these emails and try to get people to click on links that either will take them to a place they shouldn't be, maybe it downloads malware, which makes it even worse... they look like they are a legitimate party, but they just copy the web pages from the legitimate party... they are taking your money someplace else," he said.

One should be asking if the request can be corroborated in any way, he said.

"I think that we would like to make it hard for people to exercise those scams," Dr Cerf said.

"Why don't we have an 'internet driver's license' and you have to take a class where you learn about what the hazards are and how to defend yourself. Like defensive driving, we want internet driving. I think we just need to teach our population that there are other people that don't have your best interests at heart and this is how they manifest that and this is how you defend yourself," he added.

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