Keeping Kids Safe and Secure This Holiday Season

By Julie Peeler, (ISC)² Foundation Director

When I was a kid, all I wanted was a 10-speed bike for Christmas. Back then, my bike came with a lock so I could keep it safe forever.  Nowadays, kids don’t always want a bike.  Instead, they’ve put tablets, smart phones, online gaming systems, and every other electronic gadget around on their long Christmas lists so they can be constantly connected.  Their electronic requests come with locks too – in the form of passwords – but like anything else, our cyber-connected world comes with positives and negatives.  With that said, as the holiday season approaches and your kids continue clamoring for the latest Web-connected techno-gizmo, take some time to educate yourself on the security features of your new gadget before handing it over to your kids on Christmas morning.

Studies show four out of five children cannot tell when they are talking to an adult posing as a child on the Internet.  Another study out of the London School of Economics revealed that 50 percent of 10-12 year olds spent time online after 10pm, some even as late as 1am (no wonder they’re falling asleep in class!).  These are scary statistics, but they’re also crucial to helping us understand how to keep your children safe online.

Some basic safety tips will help you and your child gain control over your Internet safety:

• Use strong passwords and never share them. Make sure your child chooses a safe password that does not include their name, initials, age or hometown, and does combine capital and lower case letters with numbers and symbols. Make sure your child knows never share to their password with anyone, including their closest friends.  You’re the only one who should know it besides them.
• Protect the family’s laptops, tablets, PCs and other mobile devices. Be sure you have installed some basic computer protection software to help keep your systems safe from viruses, spam, spyware and other threats.  Ensure that you have downloaded the proper security updates and patches to keep your system current. Additionally, you can download security apps for your mobile device from trusted app stores.
• Monitor what your child is doing and what “cool apps” they are downloading. There are many Internet predators lurking on the web that your child may come in contact with while surfing the web or playing on Facebook. Be vigilant and watch what sites your child is visiting and what activities are occurring.  Monitor who their Facebook “friends” are as well. Also, there are plenty of apps on Androids, iPhones and other devices that are ridden with malware that can steal sensitive data. Be sure your child is only downloading apps from trusted sites and that you aware of their downloads.
• Educate, Educate, Educate. Teaching your children early on about the serious risks associated with their favorite gadgets will help them keep their eyes open and ultimately protect them from any threat that comes their way.

Continuing on the topic of education, an interesting fact that may surprise you is that it takes 104 clicks to fully secure your Facebook page to ensure strangers can’t see photos of your children. Download our step-by-step guide and be sure your child makes you their “friend,” so you can see who they’re talking to.

With that said, another major security danger is geotagging. Geotagging is the process of adding geographical information to a photo posted on the Internet. Many users do not realize how geotagging can compromise their personal security, leading criminals right to their home. Turning off this feature is different on every device, so make sure you read the instructions before handing the gadget over.

These are just a couple of the risks associated with cyber security and children.  To learn even more, please visit our Website and request a (ISC)² Safe and Secure Online cyber security presentation at your child’s school delivered by a certified cyber security expert, free of charge.  While you’re there, ask for our new presentation tailored to parents and teachers to be sure your cyber security skills are up to date.

Here’s wishing you a Cyber Safe Holiday Season and New Year!

Comments

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[Herbert H. Holbrook, CISSP, SEC +]

Julie – I like your article and although you wrote it before the holidays, your sage advice is applicable year round. Your point of downloading and updating security patches is a great 80% solution but combined with your other advice will resolve most issues. One thing I have done with my kiddo is review his online log and ask him a question or two about a site he has visited. Just knowing dad can and is monitoring is a huge deterrent. Like in most situations, computer logs are of little value if you do not review them. Just as important is your point about educate, educate, educate. I think when kids know you have their best interest in mind they are more understanding and compliant. Another thing to do is to control access to the time of day your kids have access to the computer. If the computer is in their room, you might consider moving it to a common area.