There is no doubt that technology is strongly affecting everybody’s life in these modern times, and most of the newer generations are growing up with a smartphone in their hand. Sooner or later, our world will be connected through the Internet of Things, and almost everything will be done by using gadgets and machines.
This is why we think it is so important to educate children and teens from the earliest age about all the security flaws that they can face in the cyber world, and that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about in today’s article.
It’s a well-known fact that the youth will grow in a fully computerized world, so if once a safety precaution was to keep your construction helmet on, 10 years from now that construction helmet will be replaced with firewalls and computer protection software. As each year goes by, we keep seeing more and more cyber-attacks, and we feel like the masses are not educated enough about computer safety, which gives a lot of opportunities to those with malicious intent.
Let’s take a look at some of these useful things that have been child and teenager should know while growing up in the digital era.
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Not trusting strangers
The first and probably most important thing that we can think of is the fact that you should never trust strangers, especially on the Internet. We are being told this by our parents from our earliest age, but it’s a lot more difficult to compare real-life situations with those that we face on the Internet.
Whenever we see a person in real life that looks shady and potentially dangerous, it’s a lot easier to get in the right idea and flee if needed. On the Internet, however, everybody can pretend to be a nice person, and you won’t be able to pick up any red flags because you never know how the person behind that monitor looks like.
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Visiting only secure sites
Visiting an insecure site is quite common these days because a lot of people don’t know how to check for the security certificate. Also, it’s a known fact that teenagers and children are curious, and their curiosity can sometimes lead them to shady websites that are unsecured. Make sure that you stay away from those and use only popular sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc… Of course, there are many other examples, but you get the idea.
It happens pretty often for a person to get their phone-camera hacked, so the best way to prevent it is to learn how to do it yourself. Feel free to visit ttspy.com for more information on this topic. Remember to stay safe while browsing the internet.
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Never share personal info
All it takes for you to get in trouble these days is simply releasing your info on the Internet, and this can be especially bad if somebody would bad intentions gets their hands on it. This is why you should always try to use nicknames instead of your real name, especially when you’re creating accounts on websites that are not proven to be secure.
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Use VPN’s
Using a virtual private network is considered as something advanced, but in reality, it’s probably the easiest thing that you can do to greatly enhance your security while surfing the Internet. Feel free to read more about VPNs as you will be able to find tons of guides on YouTube, and you will learn how to set up one in just a few minutes.
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Careful what you download
Downloading stuff from the Internet is something that every one of us will have to do at some point, but we should be especially careful with this because downloading a malicious file is probably the one thing that can be considered as the biggest security threat. Make sure that you download only from websites that are secure and completely transparent about what exactly is in the file that you’re downloading.
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Don’t share your device
If someone uses your device to do something bad on the Internet, chances are that you will be responsible for it, regardless if you were the one who did it or not. This is why we recommend that you never share your device with anyone, or if you ever decide to do so, make sure that you’re standing next to the person that’s using it.
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Log out of accounts
Whenever you’re done using a certain website, such as Facebook for example, make sure that you log out from your account to prevent someone else from doing something bad in your name. You should be especially careful with this if you’re logged in from a public computer. Sometimes even an unethical status on Facebook can change the way people think of you, so make sure that this doesn’t happen. It’s much easier to prevent it than to have to deal with it in the next couple of years.
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Use trustworthy apps
Downloading apps is a really common thing, but it also happens often that a person downloads a malicious app that ends up stealing their info or messing up their device entirely. It’s really important to check the background of the app before downloading it into your device. Make sure that you know who the developers are and what exactly the purpose of the app is.
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Inform yourself
Staying in touch with the latest scams and things that hackers do, is the best way to prevent some of those things from happening to you, staying informed about cybersecurity is an important thing in an era where everything is done through the Internet. Just 10 minutes of reading per day can save you from a lot of trouble.
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Read before you install
Installing software on your computer is something that you have to do now and then, but the most important thing about this, is to read everything in the setup thoroughly, especially before hitting the accept button and agreeing on something that you’re not even informed about. You’ll be surprised when you realize how many people get into trouble by simply spending the next button while installing the software without reading what they’re agreeing on.
