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Three former US government cyber-spies who, among other things, illicitly compromised and snooped on Americans' devices for the United Arab Emirates government have been banned from participating in international arms exports under a deal reached with Uncle Sam.…
“But everyone else has one.”
Those are familiar words to a parent, especially if you’re having the first smartphone conversation with your tween or pre-teen. In their mind, everyone else has a smartphone so they want a one too. But does “everyone” really have one? Well, your child isn’t wrong.
Our recent global study found that 76% of children aged 10 to 14 reported using a smartphone or mobile device, with Brazil leading the way at 95% and the U.S. trailing the global average at 65%.
Our figures show that younger children with smartphones and mobile devices make up a decisive majority of younger children overall.
Of course, just because everyone else has smartphone doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily right for your child and your family. After all, with a smartphone comes access to a wide and practically unfettered world of access to the internet, apps, social media, instant messaging, texting, and gaming, all within nearly constant reach. Put plainly, some tweens and pre-teens simply aren’t ready for that just yet, whether in terms of their maturity, habits, or ability to care for and use a device like that responsibly.
Yet from a parent’s standpoint, a first smartphone holds some major upsides. One of the top reasons parents give a child a smartphone is “to stay in touch,” and that’s understandable. There’s something reassuring knowing that your child is a call or text away—and that you can keep tabs on their whereabouts with GPS tracking. Likewise, it’s good to know that they can reach you easily too. Arguably, that may be a reason why some parents end up giving their children a smartphone a little sooner than they otherwise would.
However, you don’t need a smartphone to do to text, track, and talk with your child. You have alternatives.
One way to think about the first smartphone is that it’s something you ease into. In other words, if the internet is a pool, your child should learn to navigate the shallows with some simpler devices before diving into the deep end with a smartphone.
Introducing technology and internet usage in steps can build familiarity and confidence for them while giving you control. You can oversee their development, while establishing rules and expectations along the way. Then, when the time is right, they can indeed get their first smartphone.
But how to go about that?
It seems a lot of parents have had the same idea and device manufacturers have listened. They’ve come up with smartphone alternatives that give kids the chance to wade into the mobile internet, allowing them to get comfortable with device ownership and safety over time without making the direct leap to a fully featured smartphone. Let’s look at some of those options, along with a few other long-standing alternatives.
These small and ruggedly designed devices can clip to a belt loop, backpack, or simply fit in a pocket, giving you the ability to see your child’s location. In all, it’s quite like the “find my” functionality we have on our smartphones. When it comes to GPS trackers for kids, you’ll find a range of options and form factors, along with different features such as an S.O.S. button, “geofencing” that can send you an alert when your child enters or leaves a specific area (like home or school), and how often it sends an updated location (to regulate battery life).
Whichever GPS tracker you select, make sure it’s designed specifically for children. So-called “smart tags” designed to locate things like missing keys and wallets are just that—trackers designed to locate things, not children.
With GPS tracking and many other communication-friendly features for families, smart watches can give parents the reassurance they’re looking for while giving kids a cool piece of tech that they can enjoy. The field of options is wide, to say the least. Smart watches for kids can range anywhere from devices offered by mobile carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and Vodaphone to others from Apple, Explora, and Tick Talk. Because of that, you’ll want to do a bit of research to determine the right choice for you and your child.
Typical features include restricted texting and calling, and you’ll find that some devices are more durable and more water resistant than others, while yet others have cameras and simple games. Along those lines, you can select a smart watch that has a setting for “school time” so that it doesn’t become a distraction in class. Also, you’ll want to look closely at battery life, as some appear to do a better job of holding a charge than others.
Another relatively recent entry on the scene are smartphones designed specifically for children, which offer a great step toward full-blown smartphone ownership. These devices look, feel, and act like a smartphone, but without web browsing, app stores, and social media. Again, features will vary, yet there are ways kids can store and play music, stream it via Bluetooth to headphones or a speaker, and install apps that you approve of.
Some are paired with a parental control app that allows you to introduce more and more features over time as your child as you see fit—and that can screen texts from non-approved contacts before they reach your child. Again, a purchase like this one calls for some research, yet names like Gabb wireless and the Pinwheel phone offer a starting point.
The old reliable. Rugged and compact, and typically with a healthy battery life to boot, flip phones do what you need them to—help you and your child keep in touch. They’re still an option, even if your child may balk at the idea of a phone that’s “not as cool as a smartphone.” However, if we’re talking about introducing mobile devices and the mobile internet to our children in steps, the flip phone remains in the mix.
Some are just phones and nothing else, while other models can offer more functionality like cameras and slide-out keyboards for texting. And in keeping with the theme here, you’ll want to consider your options so you can pick the phone that has the features you want (and don’t want) for your child.
Despite what your younger tween or pre-teen might think, there’s no rush to get that first smartphone. And you know it too. You have time. Time to take eventual smartphone ownership in steps, with a device that keeps you in touch and that still works great for your child.
By easing into that first smartphone, you’ll find opportunities where you can monitor and guide their internet usage. You’ll also find plenty of moments to help your child start forming healthy habits around device ownership and care, etiquette, and safety online. In all, this approach can help you build a body of experience that will come in handy when that big day finally comes—first smartphone day.
The post Smartphone Alternatives: Ease Your Way into Your Child’s First Phone appeared first on McAfee Blog.
Massive amounts of private data – including more than 300,000 biometric digital fingerprints used by five mobile banking apps – have been put at risk of theft due to hard-coded Amazon Web Services credentials, according to security researchers.…
Scumbags are using a photo from the James Webb Space Telescope to smuggle Windows malware onto victims' computers – albeit in a roundabout way.…
LabMD, the embattled and now defunct cancer-testing company, will get another chance at suing security firm Tiversa for defamation following an appeals court ruling. …
The FBI has urged people to be cautious and heavily research a DeFi – decentralized finance – provider before putting your money into it, after more than a billion dollars was stolen from these providers in three months.…
Last year, I posted a series of articles about a purported “breach” at Ubiquiti. My sole source for that reporting was the person who has since been indicted by federal prosecutors for his alleged wrongdoing – which includes providing false information to the press.
As a result of the new information that has been provided to me, I no longer have faith in the veracity of my source or the information he provided to me. I always endeavor to ensure that my articles are properly sourced and factual.
This time, I missed the mark and, as a result, I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to Ubiquiti, and I have decided to remove those articles from my website.
Fears and phobias. We all have them. But what are your biggest ones? I absolutely detest snakes but spiders don’t worry me at all. Well, new research by McAfee shows that cybercriminals and the fear of being hacked are now the 5th greatest fear among Aussies.
With news of data breaches and hacking crusades filling our news feed on a regular basis, many of us are becoming more aware and concerned about the threats we face in our increasingly digital world. And McAfee’s latest confirms this with hackers making their way into Australia’s Top 10 Fears.
According to research conducted by McAfee, snakes are the top phobia for Aussies followed by spiders, heights and sharks. Cybercriminals and the fear of being hacked come in in 5th place beating the dentist, bees, ghosts, aeroplane travel and clowns!
Aussie Top 10 Fears and Phobias
Fears and phobias develop when we perceive that we are at risk of pain, or worse, still, death. And while almost a third of respondents nominated snakes as their number one fear, there is less than one-in-fifty thousand chance of being bitten badly enough by a snake to warrant going to hospital in Australia, according to research from the Internal Medicine Journal.
In contrast, McAfee’s analysis of more than 108 billion potential online threats between October and December, identified 202 million of these threats as genuine risks. With a global population of 7.5 billion, that means there is approximately a one in 37 chance of being targeted by cybercrime. Now while this is not a life-threatening situation, these statistics show that chance of us being affected by an online threat is very real.
According to the research, 82% of Aussies believe that being hacked is a growing or high concern. And when you look at the sheer number of reported data breaches so far this year, these statistics make complete sense. Data breaches have affected Bunnings staff, Federal Parliament staff, Marriott guests, Victorian Government staff, QLD Fisheries members, Skoolbag app users and Big W customers plus many more.
Almost 1 in 5 (19%) of those interviewed said their top fear at work is doing something that will result in a data security breach, they will leak sensitive information or infect their corporate IT systems.
The fear that we are in the midst of a cyberwar is another big concern for many Aussies. Cyberwar can be explained as a computer or network-based conflict where parties try to disrupt or take ownership of the activities of other parties, often for strategic, military or cyberespionage purposes. 55% of Aussies believe that a cyberwar is happening right now but we just don’t know about it. And a fifth believe cyber warfare is the biggest threat to our nation.
Being proactive about protecting your online life is the absolute best way of reducing the chances of being hacked or being affected by a data breach. Here are my top tips on what you can now to protect yourself:
Using a password manager to create unique and complex passwords for each of your online accounts will definitely improve your online safety. If each on your online accounts has a unique password and you are involved in a breach, the hacker won’t be able to use the stolen password details to log into any of your other accounts.
Storing your financial data within your browser and being able to populate online forms quickly within seconds makes the autofill function very attractive however it is risky. Autofill will automatically fill out all forms on a page regardless of whether you can see all the boxes. You may just think you are automatically entering your email address into an online form however a savvy hacker could easily design an online form with hidden boxes designed to capture your financial information. So remove all your financial information from Autofill. I know this means you will have to manually enter information each time you purchase but your personal data will be better protected.
One of the easiest ways for a cybercriminal to compromise their victim is by using phishing emails to lure consumers into clicking links for products or services that could lead to malware, or a phoney website designed to steal personal information. If the deal seems too good to be true, or the email was not expected, always check directly with the source.
It’s important to put the right security solutions in place in order to surf the web safely. Add an extra layer of security to your browser with McAfee WebAdvisor.
I know public Wi-Fi might seem like a good idea, but if consumers are not careful, they could be unknowingly exposing personal information or credit card details to cybercriminals who are snooping on the network. If you are a regular Wi-Fi user, I recommend investing in a virtual private network or (VPN) such as McAfee Secure VPN which will ensure your connection is completely secure and that your data remains safe.
While it is tempting, putting our head in the sand and pretending hackers and cybercrime don’t exist puts ourselves and our families at even more risk! Facing our fears and making an action plan is the best way of reducing our worry and stress. So, please commit to being proactive about your family’s online security. Draw up a list of what you can do today to protect your tribe. And if you want to receive regular updates about additional ways you can keep your family safe online, check out my blog.
‘till next time.
Alex x
The post Aussies Fear Snakes, Spiders and Getting Hacked appeared first on McAfee Blog.
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