With the advent of Mobile Platforms, the biggest challenge that parents face is to restrict the kids from accessing vulnerable sites or say malware that may be hosted on the “Malicious Sites.” Though more or less the Kids face same kind of threats as the adults where they can be susceptible to malware, viruses, trojans etc. But these malicious sites that could be created as the “Fan Pages” or “Free Stuff” giving aways can be more enticing for the kids where they may end up sharing information more than what a legitimate site may require or ask for.
So, where should we start? how much parental control and parental guidance is needed and how should we speak to our kids about the security?
Though it may not be simple with the kids, but then it is required. We would need to educate them and talk to them on the requirement for practicing Security in their routine usage of internet specifically on the Mobile platforms. What needs to be understood by the parents and teachers is that the kids for themselves wouldn’t like to get tricked, cheated or exploited. They need to be made to understand why some apps are being locked on the Mobile Device or some sites are blocked for them on the Computers they use for Study purpose.
Parents need to actually sit across with the kids and tell them about the harmful sites and the impact that these sites can have by the way of stealing information about them. Teachers on the contrary need to help understand the Students on the adequate use of Internet and the way those can be used for meaningful purpose say study research etc.
Both the Mobile Devices and the Computers can be configured with Security Features and some additional Security Software. Though there could be some expenses involved in the additional security software including Antivirus et al, it is worth it to put in rather than facing that breach and compromise of your personal information.
On the other side, it is high-time that the Mobile Platforms integrate parental controls and additional security measures as part of the Mobile O/S and ensure that those features are well communicated to the parents. Workshops can be organized with help of the Educational Institutes for the Parents as part of the Parent -Teacher meet to educate parents on the additional features.
There is more to what we can actually do to this effect but the steps above can actually serve as the basic steps to secure kids from the Big Bad World of Cyber Crooks.
