Children At Risk From Online Grooming To Be Sent Alerts

Following the announcement of the government’s new internet safety strategy to send children who are at risk of online grooming automatic alerts, David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab commented below.

David Emm, Principal Security Researcher at Kaspersky Lab:

“Children and young people are inherently vulnerable and at risk of danger when using the internet or connected devices. Whilst many government officials have highlighted this issue, little has been put in place to combat it and a viable and realistic solution has not yet been found. This threat is particularly real given that the average child spends over 4 hours a week using mobile devices unsupervised – and content, aimed at a more mature audience (including violence, guns and nudity) is only ever a few clicks away. It is the combined duty of care of the security industry, government, teachers and parents to mitigate the risks and provide children with a safe, secure online environment where they can work, rest and play.”

Kaspersky Lab’s top tips for protecting your family online are:

1. Supervision – This may seem obvious, but supervise your child’s internet use. Encourage them to visit and stay on websites you’re familiar with. If you have any concerns, look at their browsing history. Be sure to know about any password-protected sites they may be accessing and ask them to share their login details with you.
2. Be open – Encourage your child to be open about what they are doing online and who they are socialising with. Promote a culture of safety within the home and talk about the possible dangers which exist.
3. Protect your family – Use parental controls to block access to sites you don’t want your child looking at as part of your online security product – it’s an easy way to avoid disaster. Review the default settings on each app that your child uses to ensure that the camera or microphone, for example, aren’t needlessly turned on as these can pose a threat.