Money matters, including ways to keep your kids safe online

Many children have spent much more time online in the past year than ever before. Here’s how to keep them protected…

1 TEACH THEM ABOUT SECURE PASSWORDS

‘There are a whole host of websites and apps that have become commonly used in our homes over the past year, like Zoom, and most of them require usernames and passwords,’ says Laura Kankaala, from cyber-security company F-secure (f-secure.com). ‘This can provide a great opportunity to talk to children about why it’s so important to create strong passwords in order to avoid your accounts being hacked.’ 2 ENSURE YOU AVOID SHOCK BILLS

‘Some apps encourage users to make in-app purchases, so speak to your child to warn them about this,’ says Laura. ‘And set up parental controls on your device to ensure no purchases can be made without your consent. Both IOS and Android devices let you require a password to be entered – but don’t tell your child the password!’ she adds. 3 STAY UP TO DATE

‘While most parents are well acquainted with social networking sites such as Facebook, there are lots of new apps that young people use to communicate that they may not be familiar with,’ she warns. ‘So ask your children what the latest apps are and get them to give you a demo – this’ll help you to identify possible risk factors.’