How do I keep my children safe online? Using the Security Experts Approach (2)

 

Just apply standards you adopt offline to the online world’

Sue Gold, partner, data privacy team at law firm Osborne Clarke

“If you go out would you leave your front door open? Do you talk to strangers in the street who you know nothing about or meet them in a secluded location ? Do you tell strangers your deepest secrets and all your personal information?

Remember the cartoon with a dog by a computer and the caption “The Beauty of the Internet is no-one knows you are a Dog“. People may not be what they seem and the 10 year old girl you are chatting with could be a 60 year old man

Just apply standards you adopt offline to the on-line world and this will increase safety online. Be sensible and just remember that you have to be on your guard . Be careful about giving our any personal information including photos as once they are out there they could go anywhere.”

 

Anything that is put online should assumed to be permanent’

Chris Hoff, vice president, strategic planning, security, Juniper Networks

“Kids are implicitly very trusting, so it’s possible that they are more likely to fall prey to a social engineering attempt and as such they need to be taught to spot them and not be afraid to question or challenge the need for disclosing things like passwords or other sensitive information in response to an e-mail, text, IM or social networking message.

Further, it’s important for them to understand that anything that is put online should assumed to be permanent and they must be careful what they expose and that their identity and all that goes with it is precious.

In the case of certain environments, considering the use of a Pseudonym, not disclosing one’s age or gender, and limiting identifying information for some of their interactions online is important.”

Get them involved when installing patches

Neil Thacker, information security and strategy officer at cybersecurity company Websense

“I make sure that cybersecurity is an element of everything my kids learn and do on their computers and through the Internet. I teach my two young sons, who are both under 10-years-old, about the importance of safe internet use at home and in school, and have been training them up to become mini-security experts themselves.

I regularly remind them that websites can redirect to other websites without them being aware and get them involved when installing patches, so that they know the importance of ensuring systems are up-to-date. As a result, my youngest can already run a network scan on the home network and understands the difference between an Operating System and applications. He can even help identify vulnerabilities.

To keep my eldest from rolling his eyes at me and saying ‘oh dad…’ he gets extra time on his laptop if he helps out with making sure everything remains up-to-date when I am away. So you could say I have a small family SecOps team.”

 

A few simple steps will help keep data secure

Deema Freij, senior vice president EMEA & APAC at technology company Intralinks

As a recent mother, whose job is to keep other people’s information secure, I am increasingly thinking about how I will keep my daughter safe online as she grows up.

I work for a company which provides a secure file sharing system for high security businesses like banks, so am particularly aware of the risks from many free file sharing products.

Some consumer products, like Dropbox, have had security problems – from privately shared links appearing in Google search results to criminals using the site’s perceived credibility to share malware with unsuspecting users. Young people will use these products, but they should be cautious about putting anything private on there.

A few simple steps will help keep data secure. First, pick a file sharing service that lets you create “private” folders, so that only people with access credentials can see files. Second, get into the habit of deleting files once they’ve been shared, and if you’ve already shared files that are sensitive, delete those too.

Finally, if you come across files from friends that make you uncomfortable, or you’re sure aren’t meant for you, delete them and don’t forward them on to others.”

 

Learn about something yourself if you don’t know

François Amigorena, chief executive of software firm IS Decisions

“The first rule I have for how I approach online security with them is to educate, educate, educate. Do not rely on anyone else to tell them what they should be doing, and often educate means learning yourself. Take the time to learn about something yourself if you don’t know. Also when educating children it’s good to use material or images, like web comics to get the point across as that way they’re more likely to listen.

It’s worth remembering that some authority figures, even those at school, might give out of date or misinformed advice. So it’s always good to keep talking about these things with the kids and correct when necessary. For example a school figure from the library informed my children that all .org domains are safe. Which was once the case as it was created for non profits, but now they can be registered by anyone; just put any rude word in between ‘www.’ and ‘.org’.

Don’t hand over any internet connected device before you know yourself how it works. I have known other parents who weren’t aware that an iPod can connect to the internet, and gave it to their 10 year old son who then managed to share a video of their neighbour’s daughter in a bikini online. The neighbours were quite rightly upset!”

Boundaries also bring freedom

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Ben Densham, CTO of cybersecurity testing company Nettitude

“Enforcing boundaries and engaging in age-appropriate open discussions about your child’s online activities will encourage your young cyber minds to learn the benefits and realise the dangers of the internet. It is important to begin these conversations with your children from an early age, in order to protect them from risks that they may not yet understand and to prepare them to face and manage the threats.

Boundaries are often seen as restrictive and draconian by kids. But boundaries also bring freedom. They provide a clear understanding of what is safe and secure. Boundaries tell them where they are free to explore and roam.

When it comes to learning to protect their privacy, discussing their use of social media is a good place to start. As the use of these platforms is now so widespread, it is important to put in place methods to prevent unsuitable content and talk to your children about the dangers of forming relationships with strangers online, as well as the importance of preventing personal information from being made public.

This is particularly important as children get older, when parents will need to relinquish some control and cannot enforce those safety boundaries in the same way.”

We talk about anything and everything

Mark Gibson, sales director at web filtering firm Bloxx

“I have two kids aged 11 and 14. How they interact with the Web and via what channels is constantly changing. One month they are all playing a game and using the in-message capabilities, the next they are back to using Facebook.

Their interaction with the internet is dynamic and ever changing. They are also incredibly tech savvy, so whilst I do have filtering technology in place, anything else would – in all reality – be counter intuitive. My son would only see it as a challenge.

So with this in mind, I have purposefully made sure that my kids and I have a very open relationship and we talk about anything and everything. This means that when they see sexual content on the web, which is inevitable, that rather than wondering about what it all means, we talk about it. The rights and the wrongs, what it all means etc.

By talking openly with them it quickly becomes clear what behaviour is appropriate and what is not. It also gives them the opportunity to raise anything that they find troubling.”

Staying safe now goes beyond the old computer security issues

Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist, Bitdefender

“Parents and children rarely have time to truly communicate. So, first of all, parents should talk to their kids about potential problems that may occur when using the internet.

A thorough look at each and every one of these issues – including cyber-bullying, Facebook depression, sexting, paedophiles, scammers and exposure to inappropriate content – should give the child an idea of what internet dangers are all about. Backing up the list of e-threats with real examples from their school or group of friends could also draw a comprehensive picture.

Parents should know that staying safe on the internet now goes beyond the old computer security issues. Our recent studies show that parents now buy smartphones for their children when they are as young as 5 years old. The early use of both smartphones and tablets is boosting the risk of malware infections and SMS fraud, which make many victims among users who are still only learning to read.”

Follow the same rules you would follow in the real world

Darren Anstee, director of solutions architects at network security company Arbor Networks

“Follow the same rules you would follow in the real world. If you aren’t sure about something or someone ask your parents or another responsible adult and if anything ‘unusual’ happens when you are using your computer tell your parents.

If any of your friends tell you how to get around the content filters and application installation barriers we have put in place – don’t do it, just come and talk to me about what you need; I was young once too, I think.

I am a bit like Santa – I can always tell whether you have been good or bad on the Internet, but with much better incident response and forensics.”

Credit source: The Guardian