BCG produced a great report recently – “Why Children are Unsafe in Cyberspace”.
If you haven’t had time to read it, here is a summary…
41,000 children and their parents were surveyed, out of which:
- Only 52% of children feel safe online
- 93% of children are online by age 12, 40% are online at age 8
- 81% of children go online daily
Three out of four respondents said they had experienced at least one cyber threat.
These threats include:
- Unwanted pop-ups and ads (47%)
- Inappropriate content (36%)
- Bullying or harassment (19%)
- Unwanted sexual approaches (17%)
- Hacking, phishing, or viruses (17%)
- No threats recorded (28%)
Only about 40% of parents said their children had expressed concerns about inappropriate content they had encountered online.
More than 80% of children said they would go to their parents for help in those circumstances.
Threats are viewed by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and adapted by UNICEF using the 4 Cs:
- Content, including exposure to illegal and age-inappropriate content, embedded marketing, and online gambling.
- Contact, including ideological persuasion; exploitation (sexual abuse and trafficking, harassment, and drug addiction); and violation and misuse of personal data
- Conduct, including cyberbullying and the effect on children of excessive screen time and owning digital devices.
- Consumer, including marketing, commercial profiling, financial, and security risks.
Some bad practices:
- Only 60% of parents regularly check how their children are using their devices, with 20% tracking activity at most once per year
- Parents delete (56%) content rather than reporting it to the police (41%) or informing schools (34%)
Here’s a link to BCG’s full report.
When speaking to your child about cyber threats, according to the NSPCC, you should:
- Reassure your child
- Try not to treat it like an interview
- Ask who they’re talking to
- Remind them about strangers
These 5-minute activities have been created by the UK National Cyber Security Centre, which may be a way to introduce cyber security to your child.
If you suspect anything malicious towards your child, follow these 3 steps:
- Document (screenshot) everything
- Report the contact to law enforcement first (UK: call 101)
- Follow law enforcement’s instructions on when to report to the online platform
If you’d like to find out more about how to teach your child the risk of being online, The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (UK) have some good resources. Their “Get Advice” section is particularly useful.
___
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
1. If you’re an Employer:
→ Read our Free Guides: 10 Step Guide To Hiring A Security Specialist and 7 Steps To Fix Your Recruitment Process.
→ Download our Free eBook, “13 free tips you can use right now to hire security talent”. This is our ultimate 27-page guide to building your security team.
→ Or speak to me directly here: Book a Security Hiring Strategy Session.
2. If you’re a Candidate:
→ Read our Free Guide: How To Negotiate Salary.
→ We place security specialists across Europe. Get in touch if you are looking for another opportunity.
→ Or use our CV Rewriting Service to Fix Your CV.
___
Posted on 6th October 2022.
BCG produced a great report recently – “Why Children are Unsafe in Cyberspace”.
If you haven’t had time to read it, here is a summary…
41,000 children and their parents were surveyed, out of which:
- Only 52% of children feel safe online
- 93% of children are online by age 12, 40% are online at age 8
- 81% of children go online daily
Three out of four respondents said they had experienced at least one cyber threat.
These threats include:
- Unwanted pop-ups and ads (47%)
- Inappropriate content (36%)
- Bullying or harassment (19%)
- Unwanted sexual approaches (17%)
- Hacking, phishing, or viruses (17%)
- No threats recorded (28%)
Only about 40% of parents said their children had expressed concerns about inappropriate content they had encountered online.
More than 80% of children said they would go to their parents for help in those circumstances.
Threats are viewed by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) and adapted by UNICEF using the 4 Cs:
- Content, including exposure to illegal and age-inappropriate content, embedded marketing, and online gambling.
- Contact, including ideological persuasion; exploitation (sexual abuse and trafficking, harassment, and drug addiction); and violation and misuse of personal data
- Conduct, including cyberbullying and the effect on children of excessive screen time and owning digital devices.
- Consumer, including marketing, commercial profiling, financial, and security risks.
Some bad practices:
- Only 60% of parents regularly check how their children are using their devices, with 20% tracking activity at most once per year
- Parents delete (56%) content rather than reporting it to the police (41%) or informing schools (34%)
Here’s a link to BCG’s full report.
When speaking to your child about cyber threats, according to the NSPCC, you should:
- Reassure your child
- Try not to treat it like an interview
- Ask who they’re talking to
- Remind them about strangers
These 5-minute activities have been created by the UK National Cyber Security Centre, which may be a way to introduce cyber security to your child.
If you suspect anything malicious towards your child, follow these 3 steps:
- Document (screenshot) everything
- Report the contact to law enforcement first (UK: call 101)
- Follow law enforcement’s instructions on when to report to the online platform
If you’d like to find out more about how to teach your child the risk of being online, The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (UK) have some good resources. Their “Get Advice” section is particularly useful.
___
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
1. If you’re an Employer:
→ Read our Free Guides: 10 Step Guide To Hiring A Security Specialist and 7 Steps To Fix Your Recruitment Process.
→ Download our Free eBook, “13 free tips you can use right now to hire security talent”. This is our ultimate 27-page guide to building your security team.
→ Or speak to me directly here: Book a Security Hiring Strategy Session.
2. If you’re a Candidate:
→ Read our Free Guide: How To Negotiate Salary.
→ We place security specialists across Europe. Get in touch if you are looking for another opportunity.
→ Or use our CV Rewriting Service to Fix Your CV.
___
Posted on 6th October 2022.