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AVG

A generation of connected kids

As many of our kids have returned, or are in the process of returning back to school, we should expect to see different behavior patterns in their usage of devices.

 

Hopefully one of those changes will be to use them for studying.

As parents we want our kids to have a balanced life of being online while still appreciating the need to have life skills, such as actually speaking. Our concerns are not new, back when the wireless (radio) was invented I am sure parents told their kids to stop listening to that box, in the same way my parents told me I would get square eyes if I watch too much TV.

Controlling the balance can be tricky, especially when our kids only know a life that’s online and the normal way to communicate. It’s important that device time is understood as a privilege and not a right. Some parents have contracts with their kids stating what is expected of them when using a device, while others do nothing and some block or monitor access.

When thinking about screen time one of the first things to do is walk around the house and count the numbers of devices that are connected. Many of us forget that games consoles and some toys are now connected devices, so asking your child to put down their phone just to see them pick up another connected device might not be achieving the goal of having a balance.

In my house we strike the balance through communication and education, this has worked well for us. One of the first things we implemented was ‘the basket’, a place where phones live during meals times and overnight. This drives conversation at the meal table and texting, posting or gaming late at night has never been an issue. The biggest challenge here is can you as an adult commit to putting your phone in the basket!

Understanding what your kids do online is important. Effective monitoring through parental control software or using software on an internet router, such as the Ally System, supported by AVG, from Amped Wireless will give you oversight that will allow you to have conversations about inappropriate use and behavior. The insight of knowing that your child is spending 3 hours a day on social media should encourage you to have a conversation about time well spent.

Many of these technologies also offer the ability to block, while blocking inappropriate content is a good idea limiting your kids access through blocking will push them underground to connect in other locations such as public libraries, coffee shops or their friends house. And remember their smart phone probably has it’s own access. My point here is that you cannot control their access everywhere, so it is better to educate them having the knowledge of what is being accessed so that they behave well wherever they are and they have the principals to stay safe.

Another important element to limiting both screen time and keeping them safe is understanding the functionality of the apps they run. Listen to your kids talking to their friends about what they use, talk to them to find out and then go off and download the same apps.

AVG

AVG equals 100% with no mistakes

AVG’s perfect test score for real world protection translates into an Advanced+ award from AV-Comparatives. You can go about your daily browsing knowing you have award winning protection from AVG.

 

AV-Comparatives have just released the Real-World Test scores for July. One company stands out from the rest with a ‘Perfect Game’, 100% detection with zero false positives, AVG. The term Perfect Game is a baseball reference when a pitcher plays the whole game with none of the opposing team getting to first base. For the soccer fans out there we might refer to this as a ‘clean sheet’.

It sounds great but what does it all mean?

Real-world testing means exactly what it says, the researchers at AV-Comparatives identified 355 infected URLs that were delivering a malicious exploits and drive-by-downloads and then tested each vendor to see if they are detected. By testing this way it imitates the exact way that you or I might encounter an infected website in our everyday lives.

And what is meant by a false positive?

To check that a product does not over block or even block every web site or file to achieve 100% detection scores, sites and files known to be clean are tested to ensure they can run without hindrance from the anti-virus product installed. A detection of a clean file or web page as malicious is regarded as a false positive and it can be devastating to your everyday life as you can no longer access or run the program, file or web page.

A perfect game for an AV product is perfection itself, 100% detection with Zero false positives. Giving you the confidence to browse and go about your online life knowing AVG is there and providing you best detection rate with zero risk.

Click the award below to see the full test results.

And I can’t write this blog without mentioning the hard work and diligence of the AVG researchers and engineers that work 24 x 7 to make all this possible, well done team and keep up the good work.