Teach Your Children About Safer Cyber Security

Uploaded on 2024-10-27 in JOBS-Training, FREE TO VIEW

Children are now younger when they are exposed to the Internet via various devices, including mobile phones, tablets, computers and gaming consoles. As they play, watch media or interact with others online, they are vulnerable to cyber-bullying, grooming, hacking, identity theft and phishing.

Internet safety and cyber security are vital parts of technology education, and parents and teachers should share the burden to ensure youngsters can navigate the digital world safely.

Getting a child their first phone is a milestone that can cause distress for parents. Security software that includes parental controls, screen time and content filtering helps in protecting children from the internet’s dangers.
In addition, you should have a talk with your child about safe online behavior. Agree on digital rules, just like you have agreed on rules for keeping the room tidy, doing home¬work, being polite and having bed¬times.

Children are online more often than most parents would prefer. And often adults can’t watch their children’s digital activity and this can be stressful for parents wanting to keep their children safe Online.

Research by Kaspersky shows the enormity of the challenge:

73% of teenagers can’t imagine life without a smartphone, and half of them take their phone to bed.

44% of kids aged 8 to 16 are online constantly, with a preference for entertainment and social media apps.

40% of children reveal sensitive information online, including their home address.

A third of young people lie about their age online.

37% of kids have experienced online dangers, including bullying, financial threats, and inappropriate content

As a parent, you can’t watch every single thing that your kid does on their smartphone and your laptop. If you want to keep your kids safe, you first must understand the dangers they face when they go online. When you’re fully educated, you can help steer them away from risk, so they can have fun while staying safe.

In general, there are 3 major threats that children face when they go online:

Strangers: Predators do lurk on sites that attract children, such as social media and online games. These predators will often pretend to be children themselves, a technique known as Catfishing.
There are also hackers and cyber-criminals who will target anyone with poor security, whether they’re a child or an adult. They may also try to trick the child into sharing passwords or payment details.

Peers: Your child may experience bullying or harassment from kids they know. This can often happen on private chats in social media and messaging apps. Sometimes, other children may share private information about your child, which can cause great distress. If this data is sexual in nature, such as intimate pictures, this might constitute a criminal offence.

Self: Unsupervised children are themselves a risk online. They often click buttons or install software without understanding the consequences of their actions. They might also publicly post private information, such as their date of birth or address.

Some of these are social threats, which means that they involve extortion or manipulation. Often, someone will gain your child’s trust and then take advantage of that trust. To safeguard against these threats, your child will need to know how to have safe interactions with other people. Others are digital threats, which means that someone uses technology to access your data. This could involve malware, which is malicious software that steals your data, or phishing which tricks someone into visiting a fake website.

Online security is a challenge for adults, never mind children. There are so many sophisticated threats out there that your child may run into issues even if they follow all the rules. Adults stay safe online by using tools to help them avoid the main threats that they face when using digital services. Every device in your household should have tools such as:

Anti-virus: This is the cornerstone of internet security. It runs in the background and protects you from viruses, including trojans, spyware, and ransomware. When a malicious program tries to infect your device, your anti-virus will stop it.

Anti-phishing: Phishing is one of the most popular cybercrime techniques because it is so simple yet so devastating. You need additional protection to help prevent your or your child from accidentally clicking a phony link.

Webcam protection: If someone gains access to a webcam, they may be able to spy on you or your children. In the age of Zoom school, you can’t simply disable the webcam. Instead, you need something that will keep you safe from this hazard.

Content blocker: The best way to avoid hackers and viruses is to stay away from unsafe content. You can use content blockers to permanently prevent kids from visiting the bad part of the internet.
VPN: A VPN essentially safeguards your data when moving from one place to another. This is especially important if your child is using a public WiFi connection, like the one at school.

Password protector: Kids have a very hard time following strong password processes. A password protector will create a robust password for them and keep it safe for the next time they log in. This kind of software can help prevent the kind of accidental danger that might befall anyone online.

Internet Safety Tips For Kids

1. Talk to adults if you see some¬thing upsetting: There is a lot of content online that might make you feel bad. If you see some¬thing scary or disturbing, close the web¬site, app or video, and tell your parents about it. Seeing some¬thing like that is not your fault at all and it is always good if you tell adults about it.

2. Be nice: Treat others with respect online, just like you do in real life. Behave politely and take other people’s feelings into account when you chat with them, comment on their photos or play games together. Being kind your¬self will make the internet a nicer place. Don’t leave anyone out or bully others. If you see cyber¬bullying, stand up for others and tell adults.

3. Be suspicious: You can learn wonderful new things on the Internet, but there is also a lot of false information. Keep in mind that anyone can post things online and not every¬thing you see is true. Beware of fake news, ads that try to trick you to click by offering rewards, and unknown down¬loads that could contain viruses or malware. If some¬thing feels too good to be true, it probably is.

4. Be careful with strangers: Your Internet friends are different from real-world friends. You shouldn’t tell them every¬thing that you can tell your real friends. Some¬times people online pretend to be some¬one they are not. Tell your parents if you feel uncomfortable about a chat with your online friend even if they ask you to keep a secret. Never meet with a stranger in person without your parents’ approval and presence.

5. Keep private information to yourself: Your pass¬words, location, home address, phone number, school name and other personal information only belong only to you and your parents. Don’t share this information with anyone else. If some¬one gets a hold of your login credentials, they can pretend to be you or steal information from your accounts. You should have a different pass¬word for every account. Ask help for creating and storing pass¬words from your parents.

6. Avoid too much screen time: It is easy to lose track of time when you are having fun online. How¬ever, too much screen time is not good for you. You should also have enough time for active play, exercise, school¬work and friends. Agree with your parents, when and where you can use your devices. For example, phones and other devices do not belong to dinner table and should not be used after bed¬time in many families.

7. Share photos only with people you know: Sending your pictures to strangers is not a good idea. Only share your personal photos with your family members. When you appear in photos, make sure you are fully clothed. Never post pictures about others online without asking their permission.

Conclusion

Cyber security is no longer just an issue for businesses and governments to worry about. It’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure that they stay safe online. With children spending more and more time on the Internet, it’s essential that we teach them good cyber security practices from an early age.

The risks of not doing so can be disastrous, from identity theft to cyberbullying and everything in between. It’s vital that we make sure our children are equipped to deal with these online dangers. By teaching children about the importance of cyber security, we can empower them to stay safe online.

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