In the run-up to International Children's Day on 1 June, Internet service provider (ISP) Afrihost is taking the lead by raising awareness around the safety precautions children and their parents should adhere to when surfing the Internet.
That's according to Afrihost MD Gian Visser, who says that while the Internet provides incredible potential for educational and social opportunities, children today are also faced with certain consequences as a result of their online misadventures. These include experiences with online predators, cyber-bullying, as well as interactions with total strangers.
International Children's Day is celebrated simply to honour children and minors. It is usually marked with speeches on children's rights and well-being, children's TV programmes, parties, various actions involving or dedicated to children and more.
“Social networking sites in particular, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have attracted millions of children and adults across the globe.
Today's social networking sites offer users extensive customisation options and feature-rich functionality to share personal content, photos, multimedia files with pretty much anyone on the network,” explained Mr Visser.
These sites allow users to share thoughts and interests with their current friends and also offer common interest and activity-based community groups to meet like-minded friends online. However, it has also attracted cybercriminals, who exploit security flaws found within these sites and that have found yet another niche source of illegal earnings.
So why are social networks such popular targets? Hackers take advantage of the inherent trust amongst users of these social networks. Messages sent from a 'friend' in a users' trusted network are assumed to be legitimate and this makes it easier for cybercriminals to spread links via a compromised users' networks to infected sites through various means, be it malware installed on the user's computer, spam or social engineering techniques.
“Parents and children must be made aware of the fact the Internet today is part of today's societal educational, social and career fabric that certainly cannot be ignored, and if approached progressively with the right protective mechanisms in place can provide a rich, integrated experience in today's connected world,” he explains.
He says Afrihost subscribes to five simple tips parents and children could follow to achieve this:
Tip 1: Start early - “As soon as your child becomes active online, that's the time to educate them about cybercrime and cyber-bullying and how to avoid being victimised.”
Tip 2: Monitor your teen's use of the Internet - No matter how they feel about it, their online activities must be transparent and monitored. Some of these teens simply don't know that their new 'friend' could actually be a 40 year old adult, he says.
Tip 3: Create an open dialogue and set rules - Teaching teens how to behave responsibly and safely online is the same as parents teaching them how to behave in the real world. Talk with them specifically about what is and is not okay online behaviour.
Tip 4: Regularly check your teen's page on all of the social networking sites they talk about. Let them know to be careful with the information and photos they share with 'friends' on social networking sites, like Facebook, as this might draw interest from online predators.
Tip 5: Make sure your family is secure - Ensure you have robust security software with parental controls enabled and that it is up-to-date because new threats are emerging daily. “Parents must consider anti-virus software which, in addition to parental controls, provides Web site safety ratings to hyperlinks found in emails and instant messages, and allows parents to help prevent their children from visiting risky sites.”
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