Cyber Security Today, Sept. 4, 2023 – Cybersecurity tips for parents as the new school year starts

Cybersecurity tips for parents as the new school year starts.

Welcome to Cyber Security Today. It’s Monday, September 4th, 2023. I’m Howard Solomon, contributing reporter for ITWorldCanada.com and TechNewsday.com in the U.S.

Today is Labour Day in North America. I hope you’re having a great long weekend. Thanks for taking the time to tune in.

With many schools opening tomorrow, I want to talk to parents about being prepared from a cybersecurity point of view.

Make sure the personal laptops or tablets your kids are packing have the latest security updates for the operating systems and software. There should be strong login and application passwords. Where possible, make sure multifactor authentication is enabled. That may be too much for some young ones, but there’s no excuse for the computing devices of teens not to have multifactor authentication. Check their privacy settings, and, if they’re old enough, show them where the privacy settings are.

One of the best things you can do is teach your children how to recognize email and text scams. Tell them that computers and smartphones are fun, but there are lots of people online who want to trick them into revealing personal information and steal their money.

For example, researchers at Kaspersky note that scammers create fake giveaways that promise students a chance to win a valuable prize, like a laptop. To be eligible victims have to provide personal information. In another scam youngsters are encouraged to share a specific link leading to a page with a prize draw. Winners have to pay the delivery costs for their supposed prize.

Teach your children that just like in the real world there are good and bad neighborhoods, and the online world is no different. Help them to identify safe and trusted websites and apps. Encourage them to be cautious about clicking on, downloading and uploading content.

Keep an eye on what personal information they share on social media.

Finally, parents should watch for signs a child is moody, unusually quiet or reluctant to go to school. They may be a victim of online bullying or sextortion.

This is just a start. The podcast isn’t long enough to go into details so there are links to online resources below:

How parents can talk to their children about cybersecurity 

Talking to kids and teens about security and privacy

Cyberbullying

Sextortion and what parents need to know

Follow Cyber Security Today on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or add us to your Flash Briefing on your smart speaker. Thanks for listening. Have a great holiday. I’m Howard Solomon