While using new technologies and apps and navigating school in a virtual environment can seem overwhelming, cybersecurity doesn’t have to be.

As more students and employees are working from home than ever before, we want to help make sure everyone knows how to be secure and remain secure online.

As classrooms have gone virtual for millions of students across the globe, the Central Government in India has permitted the reopening of schools in phases after October 15. However, the actual timing and manner of reopening will be decided by individual states. While we are still weighing the pros and cons of school being reopened, for many parents, the new school year in June this year started as a re-entry into the role of an in-house teacher and household CIO.

While using new technologies and apps and navigating school in a virtual environment can seem overwhelming, cybersecurity doesn’t have to be. By following a few simple best practices, parents can help protect their children from cybercrime and preserve their online privacy.

1. Understand what your child is doing online.

○ If you’re using a personal device, set up parental controls on your child’s device so they must get permission before downloading anything or making purchases.

○ Check settings on popular apps, such as Fortnite, where you have the option to block in-game chats.

○ Know and understand the social media accounts your child uses. Know who their contacts are and what conversations they’re having.

○ Talk to your child about the openness of the internet, the ability for anyone to post anything online and how to recognize misinformation.

2. Be aware of suspicious behavior with video conferencing applications.

○ “Stranger danger” applies to the virtual world as it does in the physical.

○ Instruct your child to leave a meeting if there’s suspicious behavior that wouldn’t be acceptable in real life, such as unknown and unannounced participants joining.

3. Explain the importance of strong passwords.

○ Compare a password to the key to your house. That key protects everything inside and you need to keep it safe; keep it from strangers and even from friends.

○ Just like different keys open different doors, you should use different passwords for different personal devices and accounts that require you to choose your own passwords.

○ A password manager is like the key chain, an app that keeps passwords together and easy to use. Parents should have access to their child’s passwords/manager.

4. Keep an eye on what they’re doing.

○ Position your child’s screen so that you can monitor their activity.

○ If possible, use a virtual background when on camera for distance learning. It can help protect privacy and keep the focus on learning.

○ Talk to your kids about the dangers of clicking links with too-good-to-be-true offers. Instead, children should ask a parent before clicking. Once permission is granted – only then – open a new browser tab and go to the site directly.

5. Don’t reveal more than you want to.

○ Set boundaries about what your child can post online, such as no pictures of faces, no easily identifiable locations and no personal information, including full name, contact information, school, etc.

○ Change your device setting to turn off metadata on camera apps. This helps ensure strangers can’t figure out where you are from the photos posted online.

6. Keeping systems up to date.

○ Always keep your devices current with the latest software updates. They can include security updates needed to keep your family safe.

It may seem like there is a lot to remember when keeping kids secure online. While this information may be new for some or a helpful reminder for others, I can assure you that taking these few simple precautions can help keep your whole family protected so your student(s) can remain focused on what’s most important: tackling a school year that will be one for the record books!