Have you ever wondered how you can protect your children from being online and playing around on the internet? It is possible if you are willing to take the right precautions and take some time to educate them about the dangers. If you are unsure, this article would be a great starting point to help you understand how to keep your kids safe online.
The internet is a vast pool of information and while crime is still rampant around the world, the internet is also being targeted by many scams. From hackers trying to steal your information to children being monitored via internet viruses for kidnappings, the internet can be one of the most dangerous places to be without any protection.
What are the Dangers associated with the Internet?
Before we dive into our top tips to help keep your kids safe online, you should understand which dangers and threats there are. Here is a short breakdown of the many dangers and problems that you and your children might encounter when being online, especially when you are not protected in some way or another:
Scam
We have all heard of things like the 419 scam that is commonly found in most inboxes. This is a lucrative scam that has been going around for many years and it has taken on many forms as well. With the lack of education we give our children, they might easily be caught up in this scam and this could lead to a lot of money being lost.
We have all heard of things like the 419 scam that is commonly found in most inboxes. This is a lucrative scam that has been going around for many years and it has taken on many forms as well. With the lack of education we give our children, they might easily be caught up in this scam and this could lead to a lot of money being lost.
Stolen financial Information
Without the right knowledge, it can be easy for a scammer to gain access to your PC. Should your child click on the wrong links and follow the wrong pages, they can open up their PC to being hacked. Hackers love prying on unsuspected victims and if your child is using the same PC as you do, the hacker will have access to all your information. Nowadays, card cloning is really simple and many people lose a lot of money through this method.
Viruses
The biggest problem many people face when browsing and especially downloading from the internet is viruses. Viruses are nearly impossible to avoid and since they pop up even faster than anti-virus programs can be updated, many people fall victim to it each year. Most viruses are found hidden in files that are downloaded from unmonitored web pages. This has been a common theme for children trying to download the newest games.
Online Dating Scam
In the modern era, online dating has become more popular, with more people finding love online. Since your lover can be thousands of miles across the globe, it is hard to actually identify if they are a real person. In this case background history search of your lover is the best solution to avoid any unpleasant situation. The online dating scams have been going on for years, with scammers befriending someone and eventually convincing them to help pay for some sort of accident.
Additionally, the scam can even be more sinister, with people having been kidnapped after setting up random meetings with their supposed lover. This is definitely one of the most dangerous scams and since it has many forms, it can be hard to spot before it is too late.
How To Keep Your Kids Safe Online?
While there are many more ways that you can be swindled out of your hard-earned cash because of your child, there are a few ways to keep them safe when being online. Here are a few common tips that you can use to help your children stay safe and avoid any unpleasant incidents that could cause harm to them or you:
Education Is Key
Education is freely available all over the world with the expansion of the internet and it is important to keep your children aware of modern trends. One of the best ways to enforce this is to teach them about cybersecurity and remind them that you are always available to help them if they do not understand something online.
As your kids grow older, many of these tips will stick and they should be able to use them whilst moving on in life.
Use a password management system
While there might be a lot of programs that promise you protection against hackers, the old password is still the main part of your security feature. Whilst remembering them can be tough, it is important to have some sort of password management system that will allow you to keep track of all your personal passwords.
As part of this tip, it is fundamentally important to change the passwords often as this is a way that many hackers tend to get into your profiles or access your backing details. Lastly, you should never entrust any random person with your personal details as this can always be used against you, especially online communities.
Monitor Emails
We just mentioned the 419 scams that are getting more and more advanced, but still many people are ignorant to this. The scam takes many forms and one of the primary ways for attackers to target you is by sending mass emails to marks. As part of your security, you can invest in a good spam filter that will help detect many of these scams.
If your child is online with social media, you as a parent should reserve the right to have access to their accounts. This can be a great way to see if the child is being scammed. However, an open relationship with your kid is one of the best ways to make sure they are never caught up in any of these scams.
Identify Security Risks In Your Home
In the UK, a study once was done to see how many Wi-Fi monitors are not password protected. The results were staggering to find that many people blatantly disregard the need to add a simple password to their Wi-Fi. Since many people are also using Wi-Fi to power their smart homes, it means that your attacker has an easy target if they want to access everything.
As part of the password tip, we would recommend making sure that all Wi-Fi is password protected with the right encryption. Additionally, you can also teach your children to go private when they are on public Wi-Fi networks. This is easy to do and you have many free VPN service providers that you can choose from with a good reputation.
Keep Up To Date With Cyber Security
Unlike many elderly people like to believe, cybersecurity keeps on evolving with the modern trends. This means that you need to constantly update all your anti-virus programs. Another way to stay in the loop is the constantly monitor any new updates about cybersecurity. These are released all around the internet daily.
Close Old Accounts
If you have created more than one account or you suspect that of your kid, it is important to help them close accounts when they are not being used anymore. Old accounts don’t receive the same attention as our new accounts and we tend to forget about them. However, they can still be a gold mine of personal information for your attackers.
You definitely need to keep an eye on the accounts that your children open and help them how to close the accounts when they are not being used anymore. It is worth noting that you can keep track of all your active accounts with the right software.
Since it can be much easier for kids to be misled than adults can, it is important to not share any of your personal financial details with kids. If they would like to buy something online, it is much better that you do it for them and perhaps even use a different PC. This makes it much harder for the attackers to get into your financial details. Let’s face it, someone won’t put in the time and effort to hack your PC if they won’t be rewarded in some way or another.
Call Support When In Doubt
If you ever find yourself in doubt, it is much better to call support. With many support scams also going around, you might need to ensure that you do have a professional that will guide you through all of the processes.
With a simple internet search, you can find the right numbers and understand that giving remote access to an attacker on your PC can be a death sentence for your personal information
Wrap-Up
We hope that you have found this guide helpful and that you can now be more aware of what is going on around you and on the web. If you have children that love being online, it is fundamentally important that you keep them safe. These tips will definitely make it easier. If you have any more suggestions, we look forward to reading some of them in the comment section.