Cybersecurity tips for the household

EpORTS on data breaches and cyberattacks HAVE INCREASED SIGNIfiCANTLY EVER SINCE MORE STUDENTS AND EMPLOYEES STARTED WORKING FROM HOME THAN BEFORE.

RWith classrooms going virtual in the Philippines, this school year means more laptops and tablets, instead of backpacks and bus rides.

As schools kicked off school year 2020-2021 this October, many parents are wondering how they could protect their children as they start the school year online. While adapting to new technology platforms and navigating school in a virtual environment seem overwhelming, cybersecurity doesn’t have to be.

Jen Miller-Osborn, deputy director of Threat Intelligence for Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks, shared a few simple and helpful best practices that parents could look into. By following these, they could help protect their children from cybercrime and also preserve their online privacy.

What your child is doing online

If you’re using a personal device, set up parental controls on your child’s device so they would be required to get permission before downloading anything or making purchases. In line with this, you should also check settings on popular apps, such as Fortnite, where you have the option to block in-game chats.

You should also know and understand the social media accounts your child uses. Know who their contacts are and what conversations they’re having. Talk to your child about the openness of the internet, the ability for anyone to post anything online and how to recognize misinformation.

Be aware of suspicious online behavior

The term “stranger danger” also applies to the virtual world as it does in the physical. With this precaution, you should instruct your child to leave a meeting if there’s suspicious behavior that wouldn’t be acceptable in real life, such as unknown and unannounced participants joining.

The importance of strong passwords

Compare a password to the key to your house. That key protects everything inside and you need to keep it safe; keep it from strangers and even from friends. Online passwords are like different keys to open different doors, so you should use different passwords for different personal devices and accounts that require you to choose your own passwords.

A password manager is like the key chain, an app that keeps passwords together and easy to use. Parents should have access to their child’s passwords/manager.

Eyes on what they’re doing

More often than not, position your child’s screen so that you could monitor their activity. If possible, use a virtual background when on camera for distance learning. It could help protect privacy and keep the focus on learning.

You should always talk to your kids about the dangers of clicking links with too- good- tobetrue offers.

Instead, children should be instructed to ask a parent before clicking. Once permission is granted, only then should they open a new browser tab and go to the site directly.

Don’t reveal more than you want to

Always set boundaries about what your child could post online, such as no pictures of faces, no easily identifiable locations and no personal information, including full name, contact information and school.

Parents should change device settings to turn off metadata on camera apps. This helps ensure strangers could’t figure out where you are from the photos posted online.

Keeping systems up to date

Always keep your devices current with the latest software updates. They could include security updates needed to keep your family safe.

As students enter this school year in a new virtual learning environment, it may seem like there’s a lot to remember when keeping kids secure online. While this information may be new for some parents or a helpful reminder for others, taking these few simple precautions could help keep your whole family protected, making sure your kids are focused on what’s most important: tackling a school year that would be one for the record books!