With back-to-school preparations getting into full swing, it’s time to gear up with clothing, backpacks and school supplies. But that’s not all—with our world increasingly moving online, it’s also a good time to make sure your children have everything they need to be safe online during the school year.
Here’s a helpful checklist every parent should read. (Have older kids? Check out our tips for middle/high schoolers and college-age kids.)
For personal devices:
It’s worth remembering that today’s kids have grown up connected, and online is the natural way they communicate. But it’s important to lead them to strike the right balance in their online lives. In addition, here are some specific steps to take.
Install security software on all their devices. Kids will be kids. They’re curious and trusting, and that often leads them to click on things and get themselves — and their computing devices — into trouble. Full-featured security software is the best insurance you can get.
Implement parental controls. Questionable web sites and social content are out there, and kids don’t have to go looking for it. Even innocent searches can turn up unexpected results. Parental control software lets you block sites by category, and sends you a push notification if your child tries to access something questionable.
Check the app permissions on smartphones. Some apps (Snapchat, to cite one popular example) use GPS to track your child’s location, and that has obvious security implications. If access to contacts, location or other information on the phone isn’t central to an app’s function, turn it off.
On school-issued devices:
If your school issues laptops or tablets, chances are good that there’s already some form of security in place that sets limits on what students can and can’t do. But there are a few things you can do to set your kids up for a safe and successful school year.
Back up your child’s files. If you can, back up your child’s school files regularly. It’s a reasonable precaution to guard against infected files, an infected machine, a hard drive failure or just accidental deletion.
Prevent webcam abuse. Cover up the webcam lens with something, even with some removable tape if that’s the only option (hey, even Mark Zuckerberg does it). It’s a simple precaution against rogue software gaining control and turning on the camera.
These measures can help you do in the online world what you and every other parent wants to do in the physical world: keep your children safe. So take advantage of our back-to-school offer. Right now, we’re offering 50 percent off ESET Internet Security that protects all your children’s devices with malware protection, webcam control, and parental controls that let you set limits on what they can access.