(ISC)2 Foundation issues list of child cybersafety tips for parents
Do you have cyberactive children? With an expanding array of personal devices ensuring that the internet is never further away than arm's length from any of us, children have far greater access to the vast digital wilderness than they once did. And like less virtual wildernesses, this one harbors predators who lie in wait in the tall grasses. Figuring out how to monitor and supervise access to the internet can be a challenge for the most technologically savvy of parents. Even toddlers can manipulate user-friendly tablets, and "screen time" just might be the parenting buzzword of the decade.
For those parents who'd like all they help they can get, the (ISC)2 Foundation is ready to offer assistance. The foundation is the charitable arm of security organization (ISC)2, and operates the group's Safe and Secure Online initiative to assist parents and teachers. Earlier this month, the foundation released a list of Cybersecurity Tips for Parents and Teachers to Protect Children in recognition of National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The list is in keeping with (ISC)2 Foundation's overall aim to provide a variety of cybersecurity education and awareness programs that empower both children and adults.
The list of tips was created by cybersecurity volunteers from around the globe and addresses basic, common sense safety precautions in six different categories: Surfing the Internet, Social Networking, Cyberbullying, Gaming, Mobile Phones, and Passwords & Securing Your Computer. Some of the suggestions are so simple, actually, that they probably sometimes slip beneath the notice of even attentive parents and guardians. When is the last time that you had a conversation with your child about what he or she actually does — where they go, what they look at or listen to, how they interact with others — while using the internet? And is your proud abstinence from Facebook and Twitter helping or hindering your awareness of your children's activity in those realms?
Of particular interest to many will be a list of signs that a given child may have fallen victim to cyberbullies:
- Unexpectedly stops using the computer
- Nervous or jumpy when an Instant Message, text message or email appears
- Uneasy about going to school or outside in general
- Angry, depressed or frustrated after using the computer
- Avoids discussions about what they are doing on the computer
- Abnormally withdrawn from usual friends and family members
Additional information about (ISC)2 Foundation and the Safe and Secure Online program is available online.
GoCertify's mission is to help both students and working professionals get IT certifications. GoCertify was founded in 1998 by Anne Martinez.
