In a world where digital threats evolve faster than most people can keep up, knowledge is the most powerful defence. A group of 15 high school girls from Republic of Moldova recently completed an intensive 10-module cyber hygiene seminar series, which took place online between 28 March to 8 April 2026. Delivered by expert volunteers from the CyberGuardians team within the EU CyberNet Expert Pool and the impact is set to ripple far beyond the classroom.

“What made this programme exceptional was not just what the girls learned, but what they are expected to do with that knowledge. These young girls were not simply students, but trained as peer educators, equipped to carry what they learned back into their own schools and communities in Moldova. The ten seminars spanned a wide and thoughtfully curated range of topics, touching on nearly every dimension of digital life that young people encounter today.” – Cecilia Popa, EU CyberNet Experts Lead

Learning to Protect Themselves and Others

Participants explored what it really means to have a digital identity, how personal data is collected, how a digital footprint lingers long after a post is deleted and how to exercise privacy rights on the platforms they use every day. They learned the fundamentals of account security: how to construct strong, unique passwords, make use of password managers and add an essential extra layer of protection through two-factor authentication.

Sessions on safe browsing taught the girls to recognise phishing emails and fake websites, avoid suspicious downloads and navigate online shopping without falling prey to scams. Discussions around social media behaviour went deeper, covering how to interact safely with strangers, manage privacy settings and understand the serious risks tied to sharing explicit content and image-based abuse, along with clear guidance on reporting and blocking when things go wrong.

The programme also addressed the everyday practicalities of devices, apps and networks: why app permissions deserve scrutiny, what dangers public Wi-Fi can pose and how platforms are deliberately designed to be addictive. Equally important was the conversation around mental health and screen time, helping participants name and resist toxic online environments and the psychological toll of relentless social comparison.

Dedicated sessions on cyberbullying, harassment and sextortion gave the girls both the vocabulary and the confidence to recognise when something is wrong, whether it is happening to them or to a friend, and to know exactly what to do about it. The increasingly urgent topic of AI and social engineering was covered too, preparing participants to spot deepfakes, AI-generated personas and the manipulation tactics that bad actors use to exploit young people’s trust.

A module on fake news and disinformation equipped the group with practical fact-checking tools and a sharper understanding of how algorithms amplify misleading content, encouraging them to think critically before sharing anything online. Finally, a session on online banking, finance and crypto rounded out the programme with grounded, practical knowledge about safe digital transactions and the scams that target people navigating financial tools for the first time.

Ten Superheroes. One Mission.

None of this would have been possible without the ten experts from the EU CyberNet CyberGuardians team who volunteered their expertise and their time. Each one brought a different module to life, not by reciting technical theory, but by translating the realities of the digital world into knowledge these young girls could genuinely use.

To each of these ten superheroes: thank you! – Adolfo Caldeira, Dr. Vivian Lyon, Helio Cabral Sant’Ana, Cosmin Alexandru, Jerome Okot, Emmanuel Chagara, Andrew Amaro, Shiva Bissessar, Vincent Desroches and Donna Owiti under the lead of our Experts Lead Cecilia Popa. You stepped up as educators, mentors and advocates for a group of young girls who deserve better digital protection. In giving your time, you demonstrated exactly what the cybersecurity community is capable of when it turns its attention toward those who need it most.

A Model Worth Replicating

The EU CyberNet CyberGuardians ad-hoc initiative in Moldova is a blueprint for what meaningful digital education can look like: expert-led, practically focused and designed from the outset to scale. As the girls return to their own schools, each one becomes a node in a growing network of informed, confident and cyber-aware young girls.

In the fight for a safer internet, that is not a small thing. That is how change actually happens.

The seminars were delivered as part of the EU CyberNet Expert Pool initiative, connecting cybersecurity professionals with communities across Europe and beyond.