What can you do to protect yourself and your family online?
Today I’ve invited Mr. William Pelgrin, founder of Cyber Griffin, Inc., to share his expert tips to help parents keep up with the latest information for keeping their families safe online. As he says, “Parents should be aware that in today’s digital world, it isn’t just tweens and teens on the internet — younger children are being entertained and educated on the Internet as well!” This article shares William’s tips to help reduce cyber security risks.
To keep your kids safe online, be sure to
- Remind children to think about what they post. They shouldn’t post details about where they are or what they plan to do (such as which mall they’ll be visiting this afternoon).
- Protect your computer. Make sure the computer or device your child is using has security protections on it: anti-virus software and firewalls are an important part of helping prevent unauthorized access of infections from viruses.
- Get the down-low before your download. Remind your child to never interact with links, attachments or websites that they don’t know or trust. Make sure your child understands that downloading and installing third party applications on their social media networks may change their security settings and allow access to their social media profile.
- Teach children smart cyber security by playing a game. Check out Hax Attacks, an online mobile game application, developed by Will Pelgrin and his team of security experts. It’s a fun and simple way to educate your whole family about safe Internet practices.
- Steer clear of public Wi-Fi. Cyber criminals can potentially access any information you submit on public Wi-Fi, such as credit card numbers or passwords.
- Set privacy restrictions — and check them periodically). Make sure your child restricts access to what they share online. Make sure any online interactions or posts are only visible to people they know.
- Have a strong password – and use it! Make sure your child uses a strong password on each of his accounts. These should be a minimum of eight characters, with a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
- Check your child’s credit report: Check with the three credit bureaus to see if your child does have a credit report. If so, this could be a red flag that your child’s identity may have been stolen.
About William Pelgrin:
A leading cyber security expert with more than 15 years of experience serving several high profile roles in the industry, Mr. Pelgrin is the founder of Cyber Griffin Inc., a first of its kind video gaming and training product company. Additionally, Mr. Pelgrin is the Chair of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), recognized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for its proactive role in coordinating state and local government cyber readiness and response where he participated in President Obama’s 60-day Cyberspace Policy Review.
Great article, I’m doing some research on a blog article to warn parents and with all the possibilities children can do. This article helping me to watch it in another angle, thanks I will give you credit when my article is done!
Thanks for the information!
I used it to write an assigment for my university about children and surfing on the internet.
Nice articles on your blog, very informative.
Keeping your kids safe online really starts with the parents. Taking the right precautions with your computer is only the first step. Talking with your kids and keeping an open line of communication is critical for knowing and being involved in your kids online and offline lives.
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