Breaking News English ESL Lesson Plan on Cyber Attacks

WARM-UPS

1. INTERNET: Walk around the class and talk to other students about the Internet. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

beefing up security / cyber attacks / South Korea / hackers / infected data / chaos / coincident / viruses / downloads / Michael Jackson memorabilia / acts of war / conflict

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. WARS: What wars is your country fighting? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and talk about your ideas. Change again and share what you heard.

	Big or small problem?	The future
Cyber war
War on drugs
War on terror
War on waste
Water wars
War on crime

4. HACKERS: Students A strongly believe hackers should go to prison for crimes against humanity; Students B strongly believe hackers are just ordinary criminals and should get a fine. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. COMPUTER PROBLEMS: What computer problems do you have? Rate these and share your ratings with your partner: 10 = I absolutely hate this; 1 = this doesn’t bother me at all. Change partners and share your ratings again.

spam mail
virus
pop-ups
frozen screen

slow downloads
forgotten password
cyber attack from a hacker
Internet won’t connect

6. HACKER: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘hacker’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Beef companies in Korea have had their Internet systems attacked.	T / F
b.	A virus could erase all of the data on 60,000 computers in S. Korea.	T / F
c.	S. Korean computer specialists say the attacks have finished.	T / F
d.	South Korea’s government is blaming its northern neighbour.	T / F
e.	The attacks happened at the same time as similar ones in America.	T / F
f.	Hackers used Michael Jackson fans to spread computer viruses.	T / F
g.	The article says a cyber attack cannot represent an act of war.	T / F
h.	The Internet is being used as a playground to solve world conflicts.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	beefing up	a.	wipe out
2	mystery	b.	deadly
3.	erase	c.	unknown
4.	chaos	d.	almost the same as
5.	originated	e.	occurred simultaneously
6.	coincided	f.	strengthening
7.	malignant	g.	wars
8.	evolved	h.	havoc
9.	pretty much	i.	developed
10.	conflicts	j.	started

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one. combination is possible):

1.	beefing up their Internet	a.	data on infected machines
2	Up to 60,000 computers in South Korea	b.	known as “malware”
3.	erase all	c.	virus software company
4.	security experts say	d.	act of war
5.	South Korea's largest anti-	e.	have been hit
6.	coincided with a similar series	f.	international conflicts
7.	hackers created viruses that fans	g.	security systems
8.	malignant software,	h.	in the USA
9.	pretty much an	i.	there is more to come
10.	a new battleground for	j.	unknowingly downloaded

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Countries around the world are ____________ up their Internet security systems following cyber attacks in South Korea. Up to 60,000 computers in South Korea have been hit by ____________ hackers in the past few days. The virus is spreading and could erase all ____________ on infected machines. South Korean computer security experts say there is more to ____________. They warn the hackers are aiming at government websites. This could create ____________ with the country’s transport, hospitals, banks and social services. Philip Kim, CEO of South Korea's largest ____________ -virus software company Ahn Lab, wouldn't comment on where he thought the attacks ____________. However, South Korean government officials are ____________ North Korea.

anti
come
mystery
originated
chaos
beefing
accusing
data

The attacks in South Korea ____________ with a similar series in the USA. Immediately after the death of Michael Jackson, hackers created viruses that fans unknowingly ____________. Internet surfers believed they were ____________ on a link to receive some Michael Jackson memorabilia. In fact, the link downloaded dangerous, malignant software, known as “____________”. Thousands of PC users then ____________ the virus worldwide. Cyber crime has evolved into an extremely serious ____________. An attack by one country on another’s computer systems is ____________ much an act of war. Nations have to protect their online security just as they protect their own ____________. The Internet is now very much a new battleground for international conflicts.

spread
pretty
downloaded
malware
coincided
country
issue
clicking

LISTENING: Listen and fill in the gaps.

Countries around the world ________________ their Internet security systems following cyber attacks in South Korea. Up to 60,000 computers in South Korea ________________ mystery hackers in the past few days. The virus is spreading and could ________________ infected machines. South Korean computer security experts say there is more to come. They warn the hackers are aiming at government websites. This could ________________ the country’s transport, hospitals, banks and social services. Philip Kim, CEO of South Korea's largest anti-virus software company Ahn Lab, wouldn't ________________ he thought the attacks originated. However, South Korean government ________________ North Korea.

The attacks in South Korea coincided ________________ series in the USA. Immediately after the death of Michael Jackson, hackers created viruses that fans unknowingly downloaded. Internet surfers believed they were clicking on a ________________ some Michael Jackson memorabilia. In fact, the link downloaded dangerous, malignant software, ________________. Thousands of PC users then spread the virus worldwide. Cyber crime has ________________ extremely serious issue. An attack by one country on another’s computer systems ________________ act of war. Nations have to protect their online security ________________ protect their own country. The Internet is now very much a new battleground for international conflicts.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘cyber’ and ‘attack’.

cyber

attack

Share your findings with your partners.

Make questions using the words you found.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

beefing
mystery
erase
create
anti
accusing

similar
fans
fact
evolved
pretty
protect

STUDENT INTERNET SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about the Internet in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CYBER ATTACKS DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘cyber’?
c)	Are you concerned about Internet security?
d)	What do you do to protect your computer?
e)	Are you extra careful about the sites you visit and what you download?
f)	What do you think of the idea of cyber attacks and cyber crime?
g)	How would you feel if you lost all the data on your computer?
h)	What chaos would there be in your country if the data on your government’s computers were wiped out?
i)	Are the hackers cleverer than the security experts?
j)	Do you think the attacks on South Korea originated in the North?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think the South Korean and American attacks are connected?
c)	What kind of computer virus could Michael Jackson fans get?
d)	What can we do to avoid downloading viruses?
e)	What do you think about anti-virus software?
f)	How serious do you think cyber crime is?
g)	Do you think a cyber attack on one country by another is an act of war?
h)	How can countries protect their online systems?
i)	What is worse, a missile attack on your country or a cyber attack?
j)	What questions would you like to ask an anti-virus specialist?

LANGUAGE

Countries around the world are (1) ____ up their Internet security systems following cyber attacks in South Korea. Up to 60,000 computers in South Korea have been hit (2) ____ mystery hackers in the past few days. The virus is spreading and could erase all data on (3) ____ machines. South Korean computer security experts say there is more to come. They warn the hackers are aiming (4) ____ government websites. This could create chaos with the country’s transport, hospitals, banks and social services. Philip Kim, CEO of South Korea's largest anti-virus software company Ahn Lab, wouldn't comment (5) ____ where he thought the attacks originated. However, South Korean government officials are (6) ____ North Korea.

The attacks in South Korea coincided (7) ____ a similar series in the USA. Immediately after the (8) ____ of Michael Jackson, hackers created viruses that fans unknowingly downloaded. Internet surfers believed they were clicking on a link to receive some Michael Jackson memorabilia. In (9) ____, the link downloaded dangerous, malignant software, known as “malware”. Thousands of PC users then spread the virus worldwide. Cyber crime has (10) ____ into an extremely serious issue. An attack by one country on another’s computer systems is (11) ____ much an act of war. Nations have to protect their online security just as they protect their own country. The Internet is now very (12) ____ a new battleground for international conflicts.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	hamming	(b)	chickening	(c)	porking	(d)	beefing
2.	(a)	by	(b)	at	(c)	on	(d)	with
3.	(a)	infect	(b)	infectious	(c)	infected	(d)	infecting
4.	(a)	so	(b)	at	(c)	by	(d)	to
5.	(a)	at	(b)	on	(c)	so	(d)	to
6.	(a)	accusation	(b)	accused	(c)	accusing	(d)	accuse
7.	(a)	with	(b)	at	(c)	on	(d)	to
8.	(a)	dead	(b)	die	(c)	deadly	(d)	death
9.	(a)	facts	(b)	factual	(c)	factually	(d)	fact
10.	(a)	evolution	(b)	evolved	(c)	evolving	(d)	evolves
11.	(a)	pretty	(b)	prettier	(c)	prettiest	(d)	prettily
12.	(a)	most	(b)	many	(c)	much	(d)	main

WRITING:

Write about cyber crime for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about cyber crime. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. INTERNET SECURITY: Make a poster about what computer users should do to beef up their security and protect against viruses. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. HACKER: Write a magazine article about a hacker. Include imaginary interviews with the hacker and someone whose computer became infected.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to an anti-virus expert. Ask him/her three questions about computers and viruses. Give him/her three suggestions on what should happen to hackers. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	beefing up	a.	strengthening
2	mystery	b.	unknown
3.	erase	c.	wipe out
4.	chaos	d.	havoc
5.	originated	e.	started
6.	coincided	f.	occurred simultaneously
7.	malignant	g.	deadly
8.	evolved	h.	developed
9.	pretty much	i.	almost the same as
10.	conflicts	j.	wars

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	beefing up their Internet	a.	security systems
2	Up to 60,000 computers in South Korea	b.	have been hit
3.	erase all	c.	data on infected machines
4.	security experts say	d.	there is more to come
5.	South Korea's largest anti-	e.	virus software company
6.	coincided with a similar series	f.	in the USA
7.	hackers created viruses that fans	g.	unknowingly downloaded
8.	malignant software,	h.	known as “malware”
9.	pretty much an	i.	act of war
10.	a new battleground for	j.	international conflicts

GAP FILL:

South Korea hit by cyber attacks

Countries around the world are beefing up their Internet security systems following cyber attacks in South Korea. Up to 60,000 computers in South Korea have been hit by mystery hackers in the past few days. The virus is spreading and could erase all data on infected machines. South Korean computer security experts say there is more to come. They warn the hackers are aiming at government websites. This could create chaos with the country’s transport, hospitals, banks and social services. Philip Kim, CEO of South Korea's largest anti-virus software company Ahn Lab, wouldn't comment on where he thought the attacks originated. However, South Korean government officials are accusing North Korea.

The attacks in South Korea coincided with a similar series in the USA. Immediately after the death of Michael Jackson, hackers created viruses that fans unknowingly downloaded. Internet surfers believed they were clicking on a link to receive some Michael Jackson memorabilia. In fact, the link downloaded dangerous, malignant software, known as “malware”. Thousands of PC users then spread the virus worldwide. Cyber crime has evolved into an extremely serious issue. An attack by one country on another’s computer systems is pretty much an act of war. Nations have to protect their online security just as they protect their own country. The Internet is now very much a new battleground for international conflicts.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

Breaking News English

July 12, 2009

South Korea Hit By Cyber Attacks