On June 5, as part of Smart Holidays – held at the Khimki Lyceum, a flagship school of the Russian Academy of Sciences – a Safe Internet Lesson was conducted, introducing students to the characters and storyline of the comic titled “A Critical Error: How I Almost Lost Everything.” This comic emphasizes the significance of digital literacy.
Commissioned by the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ and developed by the Study the Internet & Govern It! educational initiative, the comic was edited by Andrey Sidenko, the Head of Child Online Safety at Kaspersky Lab. The story concept was created by students from RUDN University who are part of the Applied Digital Philology program and who completed an internship at the Coordination Center last year.
The comic’s main characters are teenager Andrey and his robot assistant RUBI, whose design was inspired by the mascot of Study the Internet & Govern It!. Andrey is an outstanding student with interests in gacha games and robotics but often lacks critical thinking skills. RUBI helps fill these gaps, assisting Andrey in navigating complex online challenges. Together, they tackle malware, phishing schemes, and trolling, overcoming each hurdle.
“Our story steers clear of didacticism – its vibrant visuals, unconventional characters, and engaging plot enhance digital literacy in a lighthearted, almost fairy-tale-like, playful form,” remarked Victoria Bunchuk, Head of Social Projects at the Coordination Center. “The comic draws on real-life situations, includes hidden Easter eggs, and is accompanied by a Cybersecurity Bingo game, along with a resource page listing helplines, apps, and services where children and teens can seek advice or help, whether they face online threats or real-world issues.”
Following the comic’s informal launch, Smart Holidays participants – soon-to-be fifth graders – attended a lecture by Sergey Zolotukhin, a Cybersecurity Consultant at F6, which covered topics such as cybercrime, digital forensics, and cyberdefense. Students actively engaged in discussions, shared personal experiences, and thoughtfully addressed the lecture’s concluding question: “Should we always try to identify malicious actors, or is it more important to focus on strong protective measures?”
Another highlight of the Safe Internet Lesson was the traditional Study the Internet quiz, where three teams competed on topics like internet history, infrastructure, digital culture, and online etiquette.
No one left empty-handed: quiz winners received useful souvenirs from Study the Internet & Govern It!, and every participant took home a copy of the comic along with a small sweet treat to sustain their energy for the remainder of the Smart Holidays activities.
