March 23rd 2020
Now that the vast majority of school-age children are at home owing to school closures, at least you do not have to worry about whether they will be infected by the Coronavirus whilst in the classroom or school playground. However, it is now important to make sure they are safeguarded against online harms.
Here are the three main reasons:
- Having more free time on their hands – as well as more time participating in distance learning – they are more vulnerable to situations such as stranger danger, stumbling across inappropriate content, being the targets of various forms of abuse or inadvertently facilitating malware.
- Cybercriminals are exploiting the crisis with a huge volume of emails, texts, social media posts and phone calls seeking to commit fraud or identity theft.
- You have many other things to worry about: safeguarding yourself and your loved ones in the physical world, protecting your income, and if you’re normally office-based, trying to get used to working and meeting remotely and maintaining business as usual.
It is always important to do whatever you can to protect your children in the online world, but now, the risks have increased. Please take time to read our advice at getsafeonline.org/safeguarding-children to make sure they are protected as much online as they are from Coronavirus.
Remember: having regular, ongoing conversations with your children about what they’re doing, who they’re talking to and what apps they’re using is equally important as tech solutions such as parental controls or ISP filters.
SANS – a globally-respected cybersecurity solutions and training provider, has made some of its valuable resources available free of charge in the face of the current Coronavirus pandemic. Please take the time to watch this great video. It’s just over four minutes that could help you protect your child.
