I recently read a great blog which discusses a child’s journey through the digital universe. If you are a parent, especially of a young child, I highly recommend it. The digital world offers so many amazing opportunities for our children to learn, yet there is certainly a dark side of which we must always be aware. While keeping our children safe online is a top priority, I started thinking about how my own children’s online activities have put me at risk. And as a result, I came up with my version of how to keep parents safe online.
So what exactly does that mean, you might be saying to yourself right now? Let me ask you this. Has your child ever downloaded that free version of Minecraft onto your home computer? Well, my son did. The result: A nice Dell laptop permanently buried in the personal computer graveyard. The “free” download was so ridden with malware, specifically a new family of ransomware which essentially locked my computer and deemed it unusable. This happened despite having anti-virus and anti-malware programs installed and my software up to date. Security control: FAIL.
Let’s look at another scenario – the case of “friendly” fraud. If your child is a gamer or has an iPod (or any version of a “connected” device), you have likely found yourself contacting Microsoft or Apple at some point in time to say, “I didn’t buy that.” And this, fellow parents, is friendly fraud, which cost retailers $11.8 billion last year alone. My 7-year son bought $395 worth of gems in his Clash of Clans game which caused me both a heart attack and an online session with Apple begging for my money back. I have captured the moment in the photo below. I will say Apple was very gracious in refunding me the money.
As if my laptop and bank account weren’t enough already, my 11-year old son has also recently managed to compromise my phone. Apparently he thought that he was going to get $50 in McDonald’s gift cards by signing up for some service which required a phone number. And of course, he offered up my mobile number which has resulted in a stream of endless spam text messages every day. I’m still waiting for my McDonald’s gift cards.
There is no shortage of hackers or predators online from which we must protect our children from. However, I also have to protect myself – including my laptop, bank account and mobile phone – from my own kids. Where are the tips to keep parents safe online?
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