Cyber security for kids: parents’ responsibility

Parents all over the world know that the advantages of the Internet far outweigh its disadvantages. Children learn more, understand more, and accomplish more with the aid of the Internet.

This generation of parents is raising children in a rapidly evolving cyber landscape.

Speaking to Nana Abrompa, on Plan B Fm morning show NKOSUONSEM, D.K Cyber, a cyber security expert has advised parents, never to leave their devices unattended.

Smartphones, laptops, and tablets have a decent resale value. Besides, now cybercriminals make more money by stealing the data that’s stored in these devices than by reselling them” he said

He added that, Information like passwords, addresses, birthdates of family members, and Social Security numbers fetch a pretty price in the underground economy.

Criminals can patch together the information on all these devices to commit identity

One careless click is all it takes for malicious software to get into devices and wreak havoc.

Talk to your kids about not automatically clicking on links in emails. Show them how to hover your mouse over the link to make sure it is going to a reputable address.

Spelling mistakes, odd emails from popular companies, and threatening messages urging quick action are some of the telltale signs of a phishing email designed to install malware on your device.

D.K Cyber then cautioned parents to be wary of using social media because many social networks require users to be at least 13 years of age, but some allow children to sign up with their parent’s permission.

If your children have accounts, check their privacy settings. The default settings may expose more information than you’d like.

Change settings to the highest level of privacy. You never know who is snooping around their social media profiles.

Teach your kids not to accept friend requests from people they — and you don’t know. Some friend requests come from bots that will spam friends lists.

Many risks come with social accounts, but stalking and bullying are two very real dangers that can haunt kids online and off.

Again, Publicly broadcasting your location is not the safest thing to do. To deter stalkers, disable location services on your child’s phone and apps.