{"id":14698,"date":"2018-10-03T16:29:34","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T16:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.trendmicro.com\/?p=542113"},"modified":"2018-10-03T16:29:34","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T16:29:34","slug":"keeping-kids-safe-online-starts-with-good-habits-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/keeping-kids-safe-online-starts-with-good-habits-at-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Kids Safe Online Starts with Good Habits at Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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During the month of October, we celebrate National Cybersecurity Awareness Month<\/a> (NCSAM). This long-running annual event is all about raising awareness about the importance of protecting our information and privacy online. And for some of us who may have allowed our good habits to lapse, it offers a chance to refresh our knowledge. Although the initiative covers a range of areas \u2014 from protecting national critical infrastructure to getting more kids into cybersecurity careers \u2014 it begins in week one with a focus on cybersecurity in the home.<\/p>\n

For families of school-aged kids, this is a great time to ensure the environment you\u2019ve set up at home means they have the best and safest online experience possible.<\/p>\n

From then to now<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come a long way since NCSAM was first launched in 2004. Back then, Facebook had just been created and was years away from becoming a household name. Internet threats were relatively unsophisticated, and limited in scope and volume. Your kids were more likely to be playing hand-held gaming devices in the school yard than fiddling with their cell phones. In fact, it\u2019s unlikely they would have had on-the-go internet access at all, with clunky feature phones still the norm.<\/p>\n

How times have changed. Today we live in a mobile-centric, hyper-connected world where online threats are never far away. Trend Micro blocked<\/a> over 20.4 billion in the first six months of 2018 alone. Smartphones are a great tool for kids to stay connected with parents and friends, but we also want to keep them safe: not just from malware and identity theft but inappropriate content, cyber-bullying, grooming and other online threats. With the average American teenager spending 4.5 hours each day on their phone, legitimate concerns have also been raised<\/a> over how much screen time we should be allowing them.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t meant to shock you into action. As a concerned parent you\u2019ll already no doubt be aware of some of the negative aspects of our increasingly digital-centric lifestyles. Let\u2019s instead take a look at some concrete actions you can take to make things better for your family.<\/p>\n

A safer home<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, the theme of NCSAM is Our Shared Responsibility<\/em>. With that in mind, we\u2019d like to do our part by offering up a few ideas to help you improve online safety at home:<\/p>\n

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  1. Set up a good place in the home for kids to access the internet<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A family area with the home PC in the living room or kitchen can help as it will enable you to monitor internet use directly. Similarly, if you create charging rooms in the shared areas, it reduces the likelihood of devices being used in bedrooms all night. If they have friends over, make sure these visitors also know the rules.<\/p>\n

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    1. Technology can help<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Make the most of the built-in security and privacy protections that come with many consumer electronics, apps and web services today:<\/p>\n