Smart Safety: Back-to-School Cyber Security Tips for Kids

 As the start to the school year approaches, many parents are faced with the probability that their kids will be resuming classes at home online. This, of course, means increased screen time and more time spent surfing the web. While the internet can be a powerful learning tool, it also comes with some inherent dangers as bad actors and cyber criminals often target our children with misinformation.

 

I thought you might be interested in setting up a time to talk with Theresa Payton, cybersecurity expert and was first woman to ever hold the position as White House Chief Information Officer, who could help your readers navigate this challenge. She is a mom to three teens and can provide valuable insight into this issue. She has appeared on major TV programs -- including NBC's Today Show and ABC's Good Morning America -- to discuss online safety. She is often sourced in major newspapers on cybersecurity issues (recently she's been a hot source for the Twitter Bitcoin hack and TikTok). She is currently Founder & CEO of Fortalice Solutions, a cybersecurity and intelligence firm -- which is featured on the Global Cybersecurity Top 500 list. Theresa lives with her family in Charlotte, NC.

 

Here are some of Theresa's tips to keep kids safe online:

 

• Tell children to beware of exclusive stories or footage on social media: Sensationalistic headlines and “news sources” claiming to be the first to break the news are tell-tale signs of manipulation campaigns. In addition to attention grabbing headlines, things labeled “rare footage” or “never seen before” are a dead giveaway of a deepfake video. If you watch the clip and it seems incredible, then it’s probably a fake.
  
• Monitor Their Memes: Memes are easy to share, spread information quickly and they are fun to use. This makes them the perfect weapon to spread disinformation. Tell your kids to be careful when looking at memes online and not to share them if they cannot verify the information in them. 
• Don’t Trust Information Shared in Private Social Media Groups: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and other social media platforms have been working hard to remove disinformation, but private group chats allow for bad actors and trolls to hide in plain sight. Remind your kids that you cannot trust the information -- or people -- in these private chats or pages.
• Check the Hashtags: Hashtags are a fun way for people to communicate on social media to discuss similar themes. While hashtags are intended to be harmless, bad actors and online manipulators will hijack legitimate hashtags or make up their own to spread misinformation and help make a story benefiting their cause go viral.
• Tell Your Kids to be on The Lookout for Fake Personas and Hijacked Accounts: People are not always who they say they are online. Talk with your kids about deciding who to listen to and whom to believe online; that person posing as someone living in your area could be a nation-state persona or an unscrupulous citizen trying to manipulate views of issues. 
  

 

Theresa also has a rule with her children where they can invoke a "Safe Space" if they get into trouble online. A study a few years ago showed that 70% of teens hide their online behavior from their parents and Theresa didn't want that to be the case with her kids because she understands the severity of potential cyber threats.