With many addictive games on the internet, kids have started connecting to people across the globe. There are many risks when kids get on the internet, and parents can not oversee them 24/7.
One of the reasons for this environment is that our physical and virtual worlds are merging. Before the advent of the internet, we used to go to markets to buy stuff, but we buy things over the internet after the invention. The invention of the internet is a real lifesaver, but it comes with risks and dangers. It includes phishing attacks, data breaches, cyberbullying, and many more.
What is Internet Abuse?
Internet abuse has many aspects, but the most common internet abuse is cyberbullying. It is bullying through digital devices, including computers, mobile phones, tablets, and laptops.
Cyberbullying is not the only aspect that can be harmful to your kids. Hacking, phishing, adult content, and cyberstalking are the few internet abuse cases other than cyberbullying.
Dangers For Kids Over The Internet
The internet can be harmful to both adults and kids. But the difference is that adults know how to be safe over the internet, but kids don’t have that kind of knowledge.
Let’s take a look at the possible dangers over the internet.
Life Threats
The improper use of the internet can be life-threatening. Your kid might be using the device to be online for too long, which might be the starting point of your kid’s deteriorating health.
In 2016, “Blue Whale,” an online game, surfaced on the internet and gained some teenagers’ attraction. In Russia, about 12 teenagers lost their lives due to this game, as the final act of this game is to commit suicide.
Loss Of Digital Identity
Public WiFi is the hub of cybercrimes. People tend to login into their personal and financial information without knowing that someone might be looking over their shoulder on the internet.
Without adequate measures, like using a VPN, ensure that your kids do not access any web with their personal information. The hackers can steal their data and create an alternate profile of your kids and use them for cybercrimes.
Loss Of Banking Details
Online shopping shows no sign of stopping with the growing e-commerce trend. Hackers find easy loopholes in these websites to steal your data and bank details.
Teenagers use credit cards on e-commerce websites. Scammers are also present and seem to be running along with those websites and sell replicas like the original’s price.
These scammers can fool teenagers and steal their credit card details.
Inappropriate Content
The internet is full of inappropriate content that can be accessed by any age group. This can affect your kid’s mental health. It can change your child’s behavior early or provoke violence, depending on the content type.
Malware Or Ransomware
Restrict your kids from downloading any content from the internet or unauthorized sources. Those files may contain malware or ransomware. The hacker would steal all your personal or financial details that you use or are there on your devices.
How To Protect Your Kids From The Internet
The Internet is a vast ocean of information. When your kid is on the internet, you should protect your kid’s identity by taking various measures.
Let’s look at some of the safety precautions for when your kid is online on the internet.
Use Parental Control
Parental control allows you to control your kids’ activities. It only provides access to the websites and applications you have authorized.
Your child can not access or watch any content without authorization from you. Also, games and educational sites can be authorized to be played or viewed for a specific time.
Review Privacy Settings
You should quite often update your kid’s privacy settings so that you may track your kid’s activity over the web,
Make sure that your kids are not sharing any personal information over social media, Like Facebook.
Use Anti-Tracking Software
All websites store cookies to provide users with a better online experience. But, some cookies may steal your browsing history to sell it to third-party advertising agencies.
Or, in the worst-case scenarios, those cookies might save up your data for the websites like your personal or financial information.
You can use anti-tracking soft to keep websites at bay from tracking your kid’s activity.
Antivirus Software
To be safe from malware and ransomware, you would need an Antivirus. It updates and protects the web to block sites with malicious content.
VPN
A VPN protects your device from almost all kinds of cyber activities. It creates a protective tunnel for your data and encrypts your data so that whenever your data passes through the tunnel, no one other than the destination host can view it.
It is best to use a VPN with a no-logs policy, 256-bit AES encryption, kill switch, and a vast server network that provides you total online anonymity.
Some VPNs provide multiple simultaneous devices connected, which means that you can connect as many devices.
Conclusion
The Internet is not at all a safe and secure place for kids. Scammers or hackers always try to scam teenagers as they are easy targets.
To ensure your kid’s safety, you need to take a couple of measures mentioned Above. While outside, don’t connect to public WiFi as anyone who is tech-savvy can hack your device and steal all the data.
A VPN provides you all the security features you need to safely and anonymously surf the web. So, use it and protect your online identity.
