Easy steps to protect kids from cyber threats

Internet has become an integral part of our lives. Even the kids today are prone to internet not only for their school projects but they are hooked on to social networking sites. They are the digital natives always surrounded by technology and using the internet from an early age. With the smart devices too have the facility of internet it has become an easy cake for kids to browse and become internet savvy.

But with every technology there are risks involved. Knowing how to use the internet safely is essential for kids specially aged between 8-12 years. For parents and their children it is important to know how to apply these skills at home, school, public places such as library and internet cafes.

Cyber parenting has become the need of an hour today as our digital natives are exposed to an unrestricted virtual world where they indiscriminately share personal information that makes them vulnerable to various cyber exploits. So it is important for a mother to don an additional hat of being a cyber mother and work towards building a cyber smart family.

According to McAfee’s Tweens & Technology Report 2013 (a study which analysed the online behaviour of India’s next generation of digital natives), Indian kids between 8-12 years  were found not exercising caution while communicating online – 36% of Tweens had chatted with strangers online, placing themselves in risky situations and vulnerable to risky internet behaviour.

The study also showed that on an average, Indian tweens use 3-4 internet enabled devices for entertainment, social networking, and research and school assignments.  Further, there has been a growing trend of Indian tweens (kids aged 8-12) having unauthorised Facebook accounts despite being under the stipulated age to access Facebook which is 13 years. 3 in 4 (70%) kids admitted to currently using Facebook and 59% admitted sharing personal information on Facebook.

To help make families cyber smart family, here are few suggestions that will surely help in achieving the goal.

• Become a digital literate yourself and stay updated. It’s really easy to learn. Just learn the basics of operating a computer and signing up on social media. You will pick up more as you go ahead.
• Work as a team to set boundaries: Discuss what is OK and what is not OK regarding what kind of web sites are appropriate for them, which chat rooms to visit, and what kinds of things they can talk about there. Get to know your child’s online friends as you do their school and neighbourhood friends. Learn to surf the web and chat online yourself so you understand what it is that your child is doing.
• Talk and share: Talking and discussions will take you a long way with your child especially if we discuss cyber threats that are more prevalent today. Referring to one’s own experiences always can help you be their confidantes.
• Review their digital footprints: Drill into kids that “what goes online stays online”. Ensure that your child knows the long-term consequences of posting comments, status and pics. Tell them how pictures are morphed, words are used out-of-context to create wrong impressions and how posts can affect career & college prospects
• Brush, wash & sign-out at night: Teach kids digital hygiene along with personal hygiene. Just like they brush teeth and wash hands to keep out germs; they must use strong passwords, take regular backups, not download files from dubious sources, click on a link after verifying authenticity and keep the anti-virus running and Firewall ON to keep out malware. They must also sign out of all accounts every time.
• Have security software installed on all Internet-enabled devices: If you set up parental controls, you will be able to monitor your kids on all the devices simultaneously. You will be informed if strangers approach your child online or if inappropriate content or language is exchanged. You will also be able to regulate internet use and website access. You can also use free tools such as McAfee Mobile Security available for Android and iOS devices to prevent privacy invasions, data loss, identity theft and McAfee Site Advisor technology that protects users from malicious websites and browser exploits.