It’s back to school time and a busy time for everyone involved. As our children prepare to return to school with COVID-19 hygiene protocols, we must remember our cyber hygiene.
School districts and colleges tend to use older hardware and software, and some share networks with other schools and colleges. This means they are more susceptible to cyberattacks. A study from Palo Alto networks shows a marked increase in cyberattacks against educational institutions.
Our children face plenty of online cyberattacks, from cyberbullying, to phishing, to theft of devices. We can help decrease the odds that our children will fall victim to cyberattacks by taking the following steps:
- Install security software
Every device your child uses should have security software installed. At a minimum, you should install anti-malware software to prevent viruses from infecting your child’s devices. There are many companies like Trend Micro or Norton where you can purchase anti-malware software. I always recommend virtual private network (VPN) software. VPNs encrypt your child’s connection. There are many good products out there for VPNs.
If your school district or college provide laptops or tablets, these devices will most likely have some anti-malware protection already installed, but you should check to make sure.
- Turn on automatic security updates
The best way to keep your child’s devices updated with the current releases for the operating systems, e.g., iOS and applications, is to turn on automatic updates. When you turn on automatic updates, new releases are installed to fix vulnerabilities found in operating systems and applications. Cybercriminals are constantly adjusting their malware and spyware attacks based on vulnerabilities. When you update your software, you take away an avenue hackers use to access your child’s devices.
You should also turn on automatic updates for your child’s anti-malware program. Automatic updates will ensure your child’s device has the current signatures to protect against malware.
- Educate your kids about phishing
Adults are not the only ones who fall for phishing attacks. Our children do as well. Children normally do not have phishing simulations (like we do at Cooper) to train them how to recognize phishing attacks.
Our children are more likely to fall for phishing scams that appear to come from video game providers or retailers. They might quickly provide their own personal information or the personal information of their parents, including banking information—how many children know where we keep our wallets or purses?
We should teach our children how to recognize phishing attacks and remind them never to respond to any email asking for personal information.
- Watch for cyberbullying
Cyberbullying, in which adults or children use the internet to threaten others, is a real problem.
It is important for parents to talk with children about online bullying and explain to them that hateful comments delivered online are never acceptable. We need to tell our children to immediately come to us if they are victimized by cyberbullying.
If you have evidence that your child has been the victim of cyberbullying, block any messages from the bully and tell your child not to communicate with the aggressor. Contact your local police department and follow their lead when collecting evidence of the bullying, such as taking screenshots of hostile messages or taunting photos, or recording any harassing videos.
If the bully goes to the same school as your child, contact the school or district office.
- Watch for online predators
As children spend more time online, whether during the school day or when at home working on essays, reports, and other homework assignments, they are more at risk of encountering online predators.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said that it received 37,800 reports of possible online enticement targeted at children during 2020. That’s a jump from the approximately 19,100 reports the center received in 2019.
Online enticement is when adults use the internet to engage children in sexual conversations or try to convince them to send sexually explicit images of themselves. Some online predators try to befriend children over time with the goal of one day setting up an in-person meeting.
It’s a good idea for parents to speak with their children about the dangers of online predators and about how they operate. That includes explaining to children that some adults pretend to be children online to befriend them.
They should also tell their children to only chat online or game online with people they’ve already met in real life. Parents may want to set limits on the amount of time their children can spend online.
- Teach your kids to never leave their laptops and smartphones unattended
As they’re chatting with friends or hustling to their lockers, your children might leave their laptop or smartphone unattended. If they’re heading to the local pizza parlor after school with their friends, they might leave their smartphone by itself at a booth as they head to the counter to place their order.
These are all perfect opportunities for thieves to steal these devices. If a thief can log on—and they often can figure out how to do this—they can gain access to your child’s emails, files, and other personal information.
Make sure to remind your children to never leave their devices unattended, no matter how hectic their school day gets.
- Make sure your children have lock screens on their phones
Your child’s devices contain a lot of personal information, photos, emails, etc. so it is important to make sure you protect all your children’s devices with lock screens. These screens require users to enter a password, code, or pattern before they can unlock a phone and access its features.
A lock screen won’t keep every thief out of your child’s phone, but they do increase the odds that someone who nabs your child’s phone won’t be able to access the messages, photos, and files contained on it.
- Cover all webcams when not in use
With a few tweaks to Google searches, anyone can locate and access unsecured webcams, including webcams located in people’s houses — maybe even your house. Make sure that your kids, and everyone else in the house, cover their webcams when they’re not in use. If your webcam doesn’t come with a privacy cover, use a sticky note or a piece of masking tape.
- Don’t use public Wi-Fi networks
Public Wi-Fi connections, such as those that restaurants and other businesses provide for customers’ use, are notoriously insecure. If your children use a public Wi-Fi connection, please have them use a VPN. Again, this will encrypt their connection and prevent hackers from seeing the information they are sending.
- Recognize that your children are tech savvy, but not cyber savvy.
Our children are growing up in the digital age with lots of access to screens and social media. It may be difficult for us to keep up with the latest tech and platforms.
We should be familiar with our children’s devices, especially those we do not provide, such as a tablet from school. We should know how to configure the privacy settings on all their devices. Children know the workarounds, so we need to keep vigilant about the content they are able to access.
We teach our children basic safety tips such as not talking to strangers and fastening their seat belts in the car. It’s critical to also teach them basic online safety tips to protect their digital way of life – at home and in the classroom.
Resource links:
https://www.keepersecurity.com/blog/2020/08/31/back-to-school-2020-8-cybersecurity-tips-for-parents/
https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-kids-safety-back-to-school-online-safety.html
https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2021/08/back-to-school/