Children who are spending more time using web-based tools and applications while stuck at home could be exposing themselves to a new batch of malware threats and even online predators, cybersecurity experts warn. Yet amid Louisiana’s current stay-at-home order and what looks to be a long summer of social distancing, it’ll be up to parents to ensure their child’s online safety.
That’s according to Jeff Moulton, executive director of LSU’s Stephenson National Center for Security Research, who plans to give a speech in the next few months about best practices parents can adopt.
“If people don’t think they have anything to worry about, they do,” Moulton says. “The biggest thing I tell parents is to communicate with their kid. Too much time online is unhealthy.”
His words of caution come in light of national media giving increased attention to the topic over the past few weeks, some of which has focused on malicious actors—including paedophiles—interrupting video conferencing sessions involving children. The FBI Boston field office, for instance, has documented inappropriate comments and imagery introduced into an online class. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, a teenager was arrested after further Zoom-bombing incidents.
Here are some of Moulton’s tips for how parents can protect their children online:
• Freeze and monitor their credit. Children are 35 times more likely to be cyberattacked than adults, says Moulton, which may hurt their credit rating. As soon as your child has a Social Security number, freeze their credit. Every quarter thereafter, write to a different credit agency and ask them for a free report on your child.
• Communication is key. Talk to your children early and often. Teach them the difference between right and wrong without lecturing or scolding them so that, if they do make a mistake, they’ll know how to proceed rather than worry about being punished.
• Limit screen time. If your son or daughter becomes more introverted or fatigued during the day, that could be because they’ve been on their phone all day. Consider either turning off your router at night, or having “timeout” periods where no electronics are allowed. Many Apple devices offer ScreenTime controls to limit access to apps and websites and apply time limits on device use.
• Trust, but verify. Look at your child’s URL history. On a desktop computer, see what sites they’re visiting by clicking on your browser’s “History” button; on an iPhone, make sure you know your child’s PIN code and passwords to do the same. Australia’s Communications Alliance also has a list of accredited family-friendly filters for monitoring your child’s use of apps or web browsing activities.
• Stay involved. This isn’t a one-and-done thing. Ensure each device—desktop computer, school laptop, cellphone, etc.—is regularly updated. This can include updating operating systems, such as Windows, Android or Mac, as well as firewalls and antivirus tools.
