Student Worksheet

Safe Houseparty - Activity Instructions

Students will...

You will comprehend information from a news article and use this to formulate your own feelings and views.
You will plan and create an informative brochure on the safety of using social technologies

Students can...

You can write an informative text that explains the safe use of social technologies.
You can select language and maintain a tone appropriate for your audience.
You can organise your ideas strategically through a planning process.

READ THE CONVERSATION ARTICLE BELOW

Crashing the party: beware the cyber risks of virtual meet-up apps like Houseparty

Mohiuddin Ahmed, Edith Cowan University and Paul Haskell-Dowland, Edith Cowan University

Social gatherings with friends and family are an essential part of being human. So it’s no surprise, with real-life gatherings limited to just two people, that people are flocking to apps that can keep us connected virtually.

The breakout hit has undoubtedly been Houseparty, which bills itself as a “face to face social network”, allowing simultaneous video chat in groups of up to eight users.

But with the app’s booming popularity come a growing number of questions about how safe and secure these kinds of apps really are.

Read more: 'Zoombombers' want to troll your online meetings. Here's how to stop them

Although Houseparty has been around since 2016, the COVID-19 pandemic has sent it stratospheric. Last month it reportedly shot from 130,000 downloads a week to 2 million.

Its “parties” are initiated by invitation, usually from the users’ phone contact list. Other options include linking to Facebook, or finding users based on location.

It can run on both Android and iOS devices, giving it a significant advantage over services such as Apple’s FaceTime, which are restricted to specific platforms.

But House Party isn’t the only way for people to hang out virtually. Netflix Party, for example, allows friends to simultaneously stream content via Google’s Chrome browser. The tool also comes with a chat functionality that allows viewers to discuss the action, like a virtual version of Gogglebox (minus the TV crews).

Some users may choose to use more traditionally business-oriented conferencing tools like Skype or Zoom, although they lack the hipster-chic of the party apps. Zoom in particular is grappling with recent bad publicity relating to security vulnerabilities.

Privacy at risk

Unlike Facebook, which allows friend requests between total strangers, Houseparty and Netflix Party seem to have set a higher privacy standard at the outset, by virtue of their invitation-only policies. But this process is not as watertight as it might sound.

For example, the Houseparty app does not require any authentication of the identity of the user, as it only requires validation of the device via a code sent to the user’s phone.

There is also no age verification, although admittedly this is difficult to implement successfully.

Read more: Restricting underage access to porn and gambling sites: a good idea, but technically tricky

Some Houseparty users have also been surprised at the ease with which the live video chats can be initiated, sometimes unwittingly – which presents clear privacy problems.

The app’s default settings also allow gatecrashers to enter virtual parties – something that can only be prevented by changing the settings to “lock” the session.

Cyber crime

It would be relatively simple for a cyber-criminal, with the help of a stolen smartphone, to exploit virtual parties. Most Facebook users would avoid accepting a friend request from someone they don’t know, but Houseparty’s single-factor identification makes it fairly straightforward to pose as someone’s friend.

Once connected, criminals could exploit their victims in various ways, such as by coercing them into giving up money or personal details. There is also a risk that bored or unwary users may be more willing to connect with strangers during extended stays at home.

Younger users, particularly teens using devices without parental scrutiny, may be particularly vulnerable to this kind of exploitation.

Taking it outside

Cyber-criminals can also copy the apps’ notifications to trick users into clicking a link that actually takes them elsewhere.

To send invitations to those who are not already using the app, Houseparty needs permission to access the users’ contact list. This allows the app to invite someone with a link via SMS. The SMS is quite brief, for example:

We need to talk. https://get.houseparty.com/yourpartycode

It would be simple to create a similar-looking URL that directs users not to Houseparty but instead to a malicious site that installs spyware or other malware on their device. There is no evidence yet of such attempts via Houseparty, but similar SMS scams are already widespread elsewhere.

Netflix Party is similarly vulnerable to phishing attacks. A fake Netflix Party link could become a nightmare for victims if their identity is stolen during the lockdown period.

Read more: Everyone falls for fake emails: lessons from cybersecurity summer school

Just as working from home poses cyber dangers, so too do our social activities during lockdown.

That is especially the case given that the blurring of home and work life makes it more likely that people will be undertaking social activities on their work devices. Losing sensitive corporate information would certainly be no party.

Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lecturer of Computing & Security, Edith Cowan University and Paul Haskell-Dowland, Associate Dean (Computing and Security), Edith Cowan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Part A: Find The Answers

Step 1.

Use a dictionary or an online dictionary such as: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/ to find the definitions of the following persuasive techniques. Record your answers in the table below.

Step 2.

Answer the following questions about the article.

1. Summarise the article in 30 words or less.

2. Describe the key messages of this article.

3. What is the author’s main point? Provide three pieces of evidence from the article that demonstrates this is their point of view.

4. Using the information in the article, complete the table below about the positives and negatives of using the apps listed in the article.

Step 3.

Answer the following questions

1. Have you ever accepted a friend request from someone that you do not know, on any social media platform?

2. If you answered ‘yes’ to the above, write down what prompted you to accept this request and also list any concerns you might have had when doing this in the table below.

3. Have you or someone you know ever been a victim or perpetrator of bullying/trolling behaviour or cyber crime on either email or a social media platform?

4. If you answered ‘yes’ to the above, write down how this made you feel at the time and how it makes you feel now in the table below.

5. Since the implementation of social restrictions, have you connected with a friend or family member on an app such as those mentioned in the article? Write them below.

6. Thinking about the app/s that you have used, complete the table below about the positives and negatives of using these apps based on your own experience.

Part B: Putting It All Together

Step 1.

Choose one of the apps that you have used and that is mentioned in the article to complete the planning template below

Audience: The audience for this brochure is teenagers (your classmates, friends)
Purpose: The brochure is an information brochure that will ensure that your audience knows how to use the app in a safe manner.

Which app have you chosen to complete your information brochure about?

Step 2.

Using your planning template, you can now go ahead and create your information brochure on the App of your choice titled, ‘Safe Houseparty!’.

Each of the sections completed in the planning document can be a section on your brochure.

To complete this activity, you could use a template found in a program such as Microsoft Word or you could design this using one of the templates found at: https://www.canva.com/templates/search/brochures/

Step 3.

Edit your work. Read back through the brochure you have just written and check for each of the following things:

Have you included a balanced mix of images and text?
Have you used bold, stylish heading that stand out?
Have you used language relevant to your audience?
Can you change or strengthen any key words using a thesaurus?
Have you included all of the sections from your planning template?

Start A Conversation

Connect and collaborate with classmates.

Send your brochure to a classmate. Have them read your brochure and add any suggestions or changes.
Ask them to share their thoughts with you on the safety of using one of these Apps.

Taking It Further

Ask a teacher if you they can publish your brochure at your school through one of the following options:

School LMS eg. Compass
School Newsletter
School Facebook page

Safe Houseparty

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