When I was a kid, I’d spend endless hours huddled around my Apple II-e computer all summer long programming on a green screen—never would my mom ever worry about me getting scammed or hurt from bad guys online. The notion that anyone would do me harm through my computer was inconceivable.
But times have changed—and with more exposure online than ever before, we really have to be careful that our kids are safe online.
We’ve been talking about cybersecurity for months now and in our discussion of the latest crimes and schemes hackers and thieves are pursuing to take advantage of you and your business. Now that spring terms are ending soon and summer break is around the corner, I wanted to give you all some steps to take to make sure the kids in your life are protected as well.
Here are a few simple steps to ensure your kids are safe online:
Get them to understand—informing your kids when it comes to cybersecurity is the fastest way to get their compliance. Just like stranger danger and candy from strangers were red flags for all of us when we were growing up, there are also red flags for online, too.
- How to protect their personal information—Social Security numbers, account numbers and passwords are all information that you want to make sure they know are things they should keep private.
- “Free Stuff” isn’t free—it’s really deceptive, especially to impressionable minds that might think bad people have to look or act a certain way. It’s easy for folks—especially kids—to fall for clicking on links for free games, ring tones, or other downloadable items. The fact is any of these downloads could potentially hide malware. Tell your kids not to download anything unless they really trust the source and have scanned it with security software.
- Strong passwords protect—The better the password, the harder it is to crack. I’ve seen countless news stories of kids hacking into each other’s accounts or criminals accessing kids’ personal information because passwords aren’t sophisticated enough—but see our post on password strategy to learn more. Use these tips for proper password creation. Also, remind your kids not to share logins with anyone, including their friends.
Peer-To-Peer is not safe—With the best intentions, peer-to-peer (P2P) allows people to easily share files online. But P2P file-sharing has considerable risks:
- You can accidentally give people access to private files – make sure you activate security settings so that nothing private is shared.
- If your kid is sharing copyrighted material, they may be implicated – make sure they understand the consequences of sharing copy-written material.
- Shared files can hide malware that infects your personal computer—before your kids download anything, be sure they scan files with security software. Make sure the security software is up-to-date and running when connected to the internet.
Phishing scams are only getting worse—just like those emails you’ve been finding at work, your kids may be coming across similar emails at home. They may get emails, but also fake texts or pop-up messages getting them to hand over money or personal information. Most commonly, criminals will use the procured information in identity theft schemes. Make sure your kids understand:
- Don’t reply—when they receive texts, emails or pop-ups asking for personal or financial information or don’t know the sender, to ignore the message and NOT to click on any links.
- Don’t open attachments—make sure they don’t open any email attachments or download files from people they don’t know or messages they don’t expect. If they get a message from someone they know but find the content strange, contact the sender before downloading any attachment. Refer to our recent post on email scams for more info.
- Turn your experiences into teaching moments—if you come across a phishing email at work or in your inbox, show it to your kids. Convert them into scam detectors.
Downloading apps—Downloading social networking applications can definitely connect us more. But realize that when you or your kid downloads an app, it may give personal information to developers that is not specifically related to the app’s purpose. Developers may share or sell this information to other companies. Check app privacy policies before clicking the download button to make sure that the app is really worth it.
Monitoring Activity—you all probably realize that, to some extent, you are being monitored at work. We make sure that users aren’t going places where they shouldn’t be going- either intentionally or unintentionally. In business IT, we are concerned with people clicking onto nefarious websites that could lead to virus and malware infections that would compromise your entire network. For home users, you can install monitoring software to block unusual activity—shopping, dating sites, adult sites or other questionable URLs. This software—on desktop or mobile apps can monitor activity on all devices your kids may have access to.
Parental controls can be great but they’re no substitute for talking to your kids! Stay current with what your kids are getting into and make sure you’re talking to them about issues related to their safety online.
Find out:
- What games and apps they are playing or using
- Create a list of acceptable applications. Limit when, how long or with whom your kids can play online games.
- Explain why it’s important to not share personal information, like addresses, schools, or plans this weekend with anyone online.
And Take action:
- If your kid comes across inappropriate online behavior from players on permitted gaming sites, block the player or notify the game’s publisher of the user’s online activity.
- Limit Internet Usage—if you are concerned your kids are using harmful websites online when unsupervised, you can limit their usage at specific times of the day.
Remember, many of the security measures you take to protect your business data can be easily transferred to protect your kids online. Clear communication and expectations of your kids’ activities online can go a long way to keeping them safe. And share this post with everyone you know with kids—they are likely in the same boat as you when it comes to their family’s cybersecurity.
