The internet is arguably the new frontier for communication, collaboration and business but, with criminals also using it for ill-gotten gains, it does have its bad parts too. And this is making life difficult for parents struggling to keep up with their child’s technology obsession.
The post Nine out of ten parents worry about kids online − yet few act appeared first on We Live Security.
When our kids are just about knee high to a grasshopper we start the process of teaching them things to keep them safe, whether it’s that the cooker is hot or that crossing the road could be dangerous.
The process of crossing the road starts at a young age, we hold their hands and stand near the edge of the sidewalk and talk to them about looking both ways and listening, then under our guidance we walk them across the road. As time progresses we ask them to do the looking and listening, we do it too and then we cross the road on their instruction but with us close by having checked that its safe to do so.
The final stage of this is their first outing to the shop, whether for candy or a newspaper we send them off on the big adventure of being grown up enough to step out on their own.
I often get asked at what age should we be talking to our kids about internet safety, my answer is simple, as soon as you let them start using it. Their experience online should be similar to the way we teach them to cross the road, first we do things with them and then with time and experience they step out to do things on their own.
Our recent survey of 2200 parents in the UK shows that 40% of parents with children aged 4-6 have not yet educated their children on the possible dangers and a quarter of them have no plans to give any guidance to their kids. I am certain that if I asked the same question about crossing the road the percentage would be much lower.
More than 40% believed that their kids are sensible enough not to need it, does this mean that parents don’t know the challenges themselves or that they just feel uncomfortable in having what can be an awkward conversation.
24% of parents have no plans to teach their child about Internet safety. @TonyAtAVG is talking at #cisafe pic.twitter.com/xNC6hfxXsQ
— AVGFree (@AVGFree) July 3, 2015
The Internet offers our kids a learning and communication experience that we only thought possible in science fiction movies when we were kids, flat screens, voice activation, video on demand and an endless supply of data and information to keep our lives enriched with content.
With the world very much at their finger tips our kids need our wisdom, maturity and knowledge to guide them in accessing the wealth of information and entertainment available to them. As with anything in life there are risks, but they become very minimized if we are equipped to deal with them.
Forget about shoplifting or painting graffiti on the wall at midnight. Opportunistic teens are turning to cybercrime to get their kicks these days.
Teenage hackers range from pranksters to international kingpins.
A 14-year old boy in Florida was recently arrested and charged with a felony offense for unauthorized access against a computer system. The 8th grader said he was playing a prank on his teacher when he used the teacher’s administrative password to log onto a school computer and changed its desktop background to an image of two men kissing. The password was the teacher’s last name, and the prankster said he figured it out by watching the teacher type it in.
Across the country in California, two high school students were arrested for allegedly hacking into the school’s website and changing grades for about 120 students. It’s another case of “unauthorized access” and the school is working with the Cyber Crimes Bureau of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to investigate.
Those two “cybercrimes” can’t compare to the one out of New Zealand. Police have detained an 18-year old they call the kingpin of an international cybercrime network. Together with other young adults in New Zealand, the US and elsewhere, he is accused of running a botnet comprised of 1.3 million hacked computers and skimming millions of dollars from victims’ bank accounts. The teen likely will be charged with having unauthorized access to computers and possessing computer hacking tools — charges that carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
One reason may be that it’s fun. Hackers were asked in a survey why they do it, and more than half said it provided them with a thrill. They also think they won’t get caught. Eighty-six percent of them aren’t worried about getting discovered or ever facing the consequences of their actions.
Others just want to prove their skills. Remember when the Australian teenager hacked Twitter because he was bored? That was back in 2009. When asked by The Independent why he did it, his response was, “To see if it could be done.”
The big rewards and rock-star status can be tempting. Rolling Stone did a story on a South Beach (Miami) 20-something year old hacker who had a glitzy, drug-fueled lifestyle while presiding over an international cybercrime ring that stole over 170 million credit and debit card numbers, estimated at $200 million.
It doesn’t really matter if it’s a bored teenager down the street or an underground cybercrime ring operating out of bunkers in a far away foreign land, you still need to take basic precautions to keep yourself and your data safe.
1. Make sure you have up-to-date antivirus protection with a firewall.
2. Keep your software and operating system up-to-date.
3. Be cautious of clicking on links in unfamiliar emails. Don’t provide personal information online, such as your password, financial information, or social security number, unless you are absolutely sure of where you are adn who you are dealing with.
4. Use strong passwords, and don’t use the same one for Facebook that you use for your bank. This blog has plenty of tips on how to create unique passwords and remember them too.
5. Learn what to do if something goes wrong. Find out who the appropriate authorities are in your area by contacting your Internet Service Provider or the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Taiwan have legislated on ‘screen time’ for children under 18, making it illegal for them to use electronic devices for excessive periods of time. The fine for breaching this law is around $1,600, which I am sure you will agree would be a little painful on the family finances.
While most of us can appreciate the idea of this law, I am sure like me you read it and realize this is a non-enforceable and probably not practical.
Think about the devices that our young people use, smartphones, tablets, laptops, games consoles, MP3 players, TV’s and more… The list is seemingly endless and many of them are used for very different purposes.
Does revising on a laptop ahead of exams at school break this law? One could argue that a fine on excessive “gaming” could be justified but this law doesn’t go nearly far enough on the details. Computers and connected devices are used for so much more than wasting time and they can have real constructive educational merit.
I don’t think any government can or should legislate on something that is difficult to enforce and should be the decision of a responsible parent or guardian.
It is important that we balance the screen or connected time of our children with offline activities like swimming, cycling or other pastimes. Interestingly, when writing this I considered where reading belonged. Is it screen time or non-screen time? I remember my childhood and being told to go and read rather than watching TV, of course with today’s e-readers, it maybe just be additional screen time.
The other consideration here is that we, as an older generation, look on screen time as different, or even negative. Our children are growing up with screen time just being a regular part of life. Their perception of screen time, and tech in general will be very different to ours. Our own Digital Diaries research pointed at this several years ago when we saw that children were learning digital skills before life skills.
I wonder how many adults would admit to spending too much time attached to screens and are setting a bad example to their children? After all, they follow our lead…
You can follow me on Twitter @TonyatAVG
Here’s what you can do to stay protected while hopping from hotspot to hotspot—or at home.
You may never have wondered if the coffee houses you walk into really have a network. After all, if your computer’s found a network, they must have one, right? Think again. Hackers can easily create a fake hotspot imitating the name of your favorite coffee house, library or other establishment. Connect to one of these fake hotspots, and then everything you do online would be going through them.
Always confirm the name of the network with the owners before you connect to it.
What a mouthful, right? But it’s really quite simple. Most Internet URLs (the addresses or links that you use to navigate the web) start with the four letters http. This is short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Well, some web sites offer to connect with a secure, encrypted version of this protocol, called HTTP Secure (or HTTPS for short). Whenever you connect with a website via this secure method, your data to and from it are encrypted so no one else on the same network can see it.
Most important websites like Google, Facebook and more support HTTPS automatically, but keep an eye out for s in the address, and add it if it doesn’t appear. Some browsers have extensions like HTTPS Everywhere that make sure your browser is always seeking the secure connection.
This kind of encryption only works for what happens in your browser. If you have other applications that connect to the Internet, like a mail client such as Outlook or Apple Mail, you’ll need to make sure they have some form of encryption and that its settings are on.
Free Wi-Fi hotspots are high in demand, so you’ll rarely be the only one connected to a network. That means others can reach out through the network and connect to your device if you haven’t changed your sharing and network discovery settings (network discovery lets others find you).
Here’s how you do it:
On Windows: open the start menu (or press the windows key) and type “Manage advanced sharing settings”, then type enter. Make sure that any sharing options are switched off, and that network discovery is also off. Some versions of Windows automatically change these settings for you when you specify you are on a public network vs a home or work one.
On a Mac: Open System Preferences and choose Sharing. Make sure all the boxes are unchecked. Head back to the main System Preferences menu, select Security & Privacy and then the Firewall tab. In the Firewall Options, make sure that stealth mode is checked.
You probably have a favorite browser that you use for everything you do online—and that’s exactly why you should use a “clean browser”. Your usual browser is probably set up to give you a lot of handy features like remembering your passwords and keeping cookies from your favorite websites to load them with your personal settings faster. This is all sensitive information worth stealing. A clean browser knows none of that, so there is nothing there for anyone on the same network to steal.
Virtual Private Networks (VPN) make sure that anything coming in or out of your device is wrapped in strong encryption—not just your browser or email client. This is the safest method of connecting to the Internet when in public. Traditionally used by businesses and governments, VPNs have become affordable for individuals concerned with their security and privacy.
Even with these precautions, however, you should avoid any sensitive browsing like accessing your online bank accounts or making online purchase with your credit card while in public. If it can wait, you should probably do it at home.
If you’re looking to protect your home network from strangers, there are really two main things to keep in mind when setting up your Wi-Fi router:
Our own Michael McKinnon has more on how to protect your network:
I recently called my friend Mary to wish her a happy 83rd birthday. She was having a fine day, but had just received a disturbing phone message from the IRS requesting that she call back urgently to settle a tax debt, and that she could use her credit card to do so.
Thankfully, Mary was too smart to trust a blind call from a purported IRS representative – because the call was a one of the “imposter” tax fraud scams making the rounds. In this case, a con artist impersonates a government official and tries to bilk trusting taxpayers for un-owed back taxes. (This type of scam also happened to me last year, though not at tax time!)
Of the 2.5 million consumer complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission last year received, the imposter scams were the third most common. Debt collection scams ranked second. But at the very top of the list is identity theft. (You can see the full list here.)
In tax identity theft, scammers steal Social Security numbers to file for a tax refund before the real taxpayer can. In many cases, victims may not even learn about the fraud until they file a return, at which point IRS notifies them that the return has already been filed and paid!
The IRS announced that the number of tax identity theft cases has doubled each year in recent years. It estimated it has paid out $5.8 billion in fraudulent tax refunds in 2013 because of identity theft. The IRS also reported it also was able to stop another 5 million attempts to get fraudulent refunds, which saved taxpayers another $20 billion.
Many tax fraud cases involve stolen social security numbers. CNNMoney reports that hackers stole more than 6.5 million Social Security numbers last year, with up to 80 million more at risk this year as part of the Anthem data breach alone.
2014 is sometimes called the year of the hack and it is clear that while large-scale breaches continue we will surely see elevated rates of identity theft, especially in the tax season.
All is not lost though, by following a few steps you can help keep all your credentials in the right place:
Here’s wishing you many happy returns!
Heimdal asked a range of security experts for their essential security tips. 19 experts (including David Harley) offered over 50 tips.
The post Heimdal blog, 19 Experts, 50+ Security Tips appeared first on We Live Security.
The account, which had more than 285 million “loops” to date, was compromised and hackers deleted every video linked to the account.
The hack comes just days after Phillips was in the news for making a living off sponsored Vines. A report on the BBC claimed that he was making as much as £12,000 per six second clip.
While Phillips is working with Vine to try and restore his lost videos, it’s worth remembering that you don’t have to be a celebrity to be hacked.
Here are a couple of things you can do to help keep your online accounts safe from hackers.
Use Two-Factor Authentication
Two-Factor Authentication is a great way to protect your online accounts. By using a randomly generated code, sent to your email or phone, it makes it very difficult for hackers to gain access.
Don’t use the same username across all accounts
Make sure that you use a different usernames across all your accounts so that if your credentials fall into the wrong hands, the risk is limited to only one site.
Also try not to use your real name in your username as this can help attackers verify your identity and be sure the account belongs to you.
Use a strong password
Passwords play a crucial role in protecting your online accounts from hackers. Here is a simple guide to creating a strong one:
Each country has its own initiatives for protecting kids online. In the UK, for example, we have “Active Choice” which makes adult content opt-in rather than opt out. But I believe, that around the world, parents should be the first line of defense and guidance for our kids.
When we talk about children spending time online, it’s important to remember that our children do not have what we term ‘digital lives’. Technology is normal to them and part of growing up in today’s world.
I often hear parents raise concerns about how much time their children spend online and on devices. Generally I observe that they are equally guilty of this digital overindulgence. As ever, children mimic their parents’ behavior.
AVG Digital Diaries research last year examined how the Internet is having an impact on how quickly kids grow up. Our findings showed that children are increasingly interacting with digital devices,and 42% of the parents polled by AVG said that they are concerned that their child spends too much time on devices, and a similar number (43%) said they were worried their child didn’t spend enough time outside.
So who is responsible for the time our kids spend online? I believe that parents are, yet 42% of them say they are concerned about it.
As Safer Internet Day has just passed, I challenge the 42% in our survey last year to take charge of the technology in their homes and to correct the balance.
You might not be popular today but introducing other life skills is a good thing to do. Remember, technology is not a babysitter!
We’ve put together more statistics from the AVG Digital Diaries research in this infographic below.
Kids can put a lot of pressure on parents to let them use Facebook. However there are several important things that parents should know before making a decision either way.
So do you still think kids should be using Facebook?
