This is a follow up on a previous article I wrote on Online safety and only emphasises the importance I place on this as a guardian and modern technologist.
Do not be complacent where children are involved as on the Internet, not necessarily on the Darknet, there are forums on social media where teenagers meet to talk about everyday things like school and which classmates they fancied, parties as well as darker subject matter: depression, loneliness, and suicide.
Scary stories are also exchanged.
The spookiness of these stories come from how real they seem, often achieved through fake pictures or doctored footage.
In my earlier career, I’ve been to some of the real nasty places on the Darknet and worked with law enforcement on tracking down some of the criminals who lurk there in cyberspace.
There are some things you cannot unsee and I would not encourage you to be in that position, trust me on this.
I continuously urge parents and guardians to be mindful of their children’s activity online – not overbearing, as the Internet is an excellent educational tool but be aware of their behaviour offline as being indicative of what they may experiencing online.
Giving your kid a tablet or Smartphone to keep them occupied for entertainment or educational purposes – or perhaps in order to snatch a minute or two of peace and quiet in the car for the benefit of your sanity – is often a safe and harmless activity but, in turn, unrestricted and unsupervised use can also pave the way to problems.
Children may access inappropriate or adult content; social network use can lead to cyberbullying (either as a victim or as an instigator), unrealistic expectations may form of how they should look or how their lives should be; the oversharing of private information may occur, there could be the promotion of risk behaviours such as meeting strangers encountered online, and sexual grooming are all concerns for today’s parents.
Simple steps can make the difference between losing your online accounts or maintaining what is now a precious commodity:
Your privacy.
There is, also, the simple concept of moderation.
We lock the medicine cabinet and keep medicines and alcohol out of arm’s reach – but mobile devices and social media, which studies suggest releases dopamine – a chemical also associated with smoking and drinking – often has no such restrictions.
A question that is often asked is at what age should a child have a phone, and there is no simple answer.
As a technologist I err on the side of caution but then I read stories about Steve Jobs (Apple and Bill Gate restricting their children’s access to mobile phones and laptops until well into their teens.
Some parents give their kids a phone as soon as they enter middle school or high school for use in emergencies and to make sure they have a direct line to their parents, whereas others do not allow their children to own one until many years later.
Cyberbullying is an unfortunate reality of our lives today, and when it comes to children, exposure can lead to plummeting self-confidence, isolation, and mental health issues. But how do you know?
First of all, let’s start with what cyberbullying means – it is a term for harassment, abuse, intimidation, the humiliation of, or threatening someone through digital means, mainly through the Internet – including Facebook, Instagram, tweets, chat apps, and forums.
A child could be cyberbullied through insulting messages, embarrassing or manipulated images of them being posted online, cruel posts related to them, and more.
They may avoid school, lose interest in hobbies, become withdrawn, have mood swings, show indicators of depression, or exhibit sudden secretiveness if they are being physically bullied, and these signs can apply to cyberbullying, too.
It is a topic that has to be brought up with sensitivity and caution.
If you find your child is being cyberbullied, it is important to record any evidence at hand of these activities.
Fiji now has an Online Safety Act 2018 and therefore legal recourse if matters get out of hand.
It is also worth making sure your own kids understand the potential ramifications of becoming a cyberbully.
They may be under the impression that online accounts mean they are anonymous – a myth which must be dispelled – or that persecuting someone online and acting like a troll won’t have consequences in the outside world.
It is, after all, no less serious whether bullying takes place in the playground, school gym, or an online forum, and inappropriate behaviour can eventually impact everything from a school career to future job prospects.
Explained simply, make sure your children don’t post anything online they wouldn’t be happy for their grandmother to see, or for them to see on the front page of the newspapers.
Politicians too should take note of this piece of my professional advice!
Cyber criminals are hacking into sensitive networks to steal the identities of children and are selling it on the Darknet.
Personal information is leaked in data breaches all the time, but what makes the data on children so useful to cyber criminals is how they don’t have any credit history – so they offer an easy path for fraudulent purchases, future loans and other transactions.
Child data by design is fresh, in most cases it’s not going to have been exploited before; this is the fi rst time these children are being caught up in a data breach – especially for very young children.
There is great demand for this data on the Darknet, with a small group of sellers repeatedly emerging to offer data to customers at a cost of just $50 per child.
The cybercriminals create a false ID around the stolen child’s data, creating whole new identities, but tied to the identifying social security number etc.
That makes using children’s data highly appealing to criminals, because they’re likely to be the first to exploit it – and the lack of credit history means they don’t have to gamble like they would with the data of an adult victim.
In this digital world we need to be cautious about what we put out there in cyberspace especially when it comes to our children.
Sensible parenting probably suffices and just be mindful that technology can be a double-edged sword which cuts both ways.
There is great demand for this data on the Darknet, with a small group of sellers repeatedly emerging to offer data to customers at a cost of just $100 per child.
The cybercriminals create a false ID around the stolen child’s data, creating whole new identities, but tied to the identifying social security number, etc.
In this digital world, we need to be cautious about what we put out there in cyberspace especially when it comes to our children.
Sensible parenting probably suffices and just be mindful that technology can be a double-edged sword which cuts both ways.
And please do remember in online safety and for your general knowledge: Nothing goes away once it’s posted online – ever!
Kid you not…photos, comments or just forwarding something ‘cute’.
As always, God bless and stay safe in both digital and physical worlds this weekend.
- ILAITIA B. TUISAWAU is a private cybersecurity consultant. The views expressed in this article are his and not necessarily shared by this newspaper. Mr Tuisawau can be contacted on ilaitia@cyberbati.com
