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The internet can be a risky environment for everyone, but children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable. They may fall prey to cyber predators or share social media content that might return to trouble them later. Dangers online can lead to serious and sometimes tragic outcomes. Kids might unknowingly put their families at risk online, such as by unintentionally downloading malware that could allow cybercriminals to access their parents’ bank accounts or other private information. Ensuring children’s safety online requires awareness—understanding the threats that exist and how to defend against them. While cybersecurity software can offer protection from specific threats, the key safety measure is maintaining an open dialogue with your children.
1. Cyberbullying
Ninety per cent of teenagers agree that cyberbullying is a serious issue. A recent survey regarding children’s online activities revealed that around 60% of children using social media have encountered some bullying, and that, for different reasons, the majority of children chose to disregard the behaviour entirely. Social media and online gaming serve as the current virtual playgrounds, where a significant amount of cyberbullying occurs. Children can be mocked in social media interactions. In online gaming, players can face constant attacks that amount to cyber bullying and other negative experiences.
The most effective way to safeguard against cyberbullying is to establish a rapport with your children, enabling open discussions about their online and offline experiences and how to confront bullies. Cybersecurity programs and specific applications designed to track your child’s online and mobile behaviour can be beneficial, yet nothing substitutes for an honest conversation.
2. Predators: Especially Sexual Predators
Sexual and other predators are among the most common dangers online targeting children. They exploit their naivety, absence of adult oversight, and abuse their blind trust. This may lead to children being drawn into risky face-to-face interactions in real life. These predators hide on social media and gaming sites that attract children—the same online spaces where anonymity enables cyberbullying. In that space, they can capitalise on both the innocence of children and their imaginative abilities. Malicious individuals may exploit all of these and more to lure children.
Image source: MyVirtualAcademy.com
Consistently discussing your children’s daily experiences is the best way to protect them.
3. Sharing Personal Information
Children are still unaware of social limits. They might share personally identifiable information (PII) online, such as in their social media profiles, that should remain private. This could include anything from photos of embarrassing personal situations to their residential addresses or family trip itineraries.
A significant portion, although not everything, that your children share is visible to the public. This means that you can view it too—and it’s worth reminding them that if Mom and Dad have access to it, then so does everyone else. Refrain from prying, but have open discussions with your kids about societal limits and their implications for your children and your family as a whole.
4. Phishing
Phishing refers to the method used by cybersecurity experts to describe emails designed to deceive people into clicking on harmful links or opening malicious attachments. These can be particularly hard for children to recognise since the email often appears to come from a genuine source, such as a friend or relative.
Phishing emails and smishing messages can appear unexpectedly, but the cybercriminals who create them monitor platforms frequented by children and collect details such as email addresses, friends’ names, and other data to customise their attacks, similar to how they employ phishing techniques to infiltrate corporate networks. Instruct your children to refrain from clicking on emails or texts from unknown sources and to be cautious of messages that appear to come from friends but seem unusual or lack a sincere personal tone.
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5. Falling to Fraud
Children can easily be deceived by scams that promise things they cherish, such as exclusive access to online games or unique features. Youth are prime targets for scams as they haven’t yet developed a sense of caution. Similar to phishing, cybercriminals can exploit websites favoured by children to find potential targets. They then offer rewards in exchange for what they desire such as parents’ credit card details.
Regardless of age, the most effective safeguard against dangers online is realising that if an opportunity seems too good to be true, it likely isn’t. Instruct your children to be cautious of internet deals that seem too good to be true.
6. Unintentionally Downloading Malware
Malware refers to software that is installed without the victim’s awareness or consent and carries out damaging actions on the computer. This involves taking personal data from your device or taking control of it for malicious purposes. Cybercriminals frequently deceive people into downloading malware that appears to be games.
Image source: Vantage security
Similar to scams, teaching your children is the most effective defence, but thorough, multi-platform cybersecurity software and associated protections can help protect your child’s computer from any malware that infiltrates it. Moreover, numerous internet security tools offer dedicated parental controls and applications designed to help establish a safe environment for your children’s online activities.
7. Posts That Resurface to Trouble a Child in Adulthood
Materials shared on the internet can stay indefinitely. Whatever your child shares online is almost impossible to erase afterwards. The risks of social media are particularly alarming. Teenagers often struggle to consider how a party photo or Snapchat message might create issues a decade later during job interviews, or how a potential partner might react to personal content they share on social media.
Let your teens know that their tastes and viewpoints will inevitably evolve as they age. Their online personality will probably evolve as they grow older.
The internet can present dangers online to children. It can also unlock possibilities of amazement for them that earlier generations could not have even envisioned. Help safeguard your children’s online safety, allowing them to enjoy the benefits and possibilities of the internet while steering clear of its dangers. Stay alert. Stay vigilant.
