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It’s a question we get a lot from parents: “How can I keep my kids safe when they are constantly hopping between so many different apps?” We get it, there’s a lot to stay on top and all of it changes constantly. Unfortunately, that question doesn’t have a simple answer. But there are some baseline actions every parent can take to boost their child’s safety on popular apps like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram.
The safety equation is threefold, with every piece as important to your child’s overall safety as the next.
A report released in 2021 by Common Sense Media found that teenagers (ages 13-18) use an average of nine hours of entertainment media per day and that tweens (ages 8-12) use an average of six hours a day, not including time spent using media for school or homework. The report also found that boys spend more time on gaming devices while girls spend more time on social media and that mobile devices now account for 41% of all screen time among tweens and 46% among teens.
With those numbers increasing each year, it’s even more important to understand the different ways parents can help kids stay safe. Let’s break down a few safety basics on each app that are easy to access and use.
TikTok has some impressive safety guidelines broken down into topics parents could easily use as a springboard for some great family discussions. The guidelines and the Safety Center cover issues such as dangerous TikTok challenges and how to deal with other digital threats such as bullying, sexual content, fake news, and hateful behavior. You can increase safeguards using TikTok’s:
Every app functions differently and thus, offers different ways to boost security. Snapchat provides a helpful guide for parents and educators, including safety tips and conversation starters. You can increase safeguards using Snapchat’s:
Instagram offers parents and minor users a library of safety and mental health resources accessible via the app’s Community Tab at the bottom of its home page. You can increase safeguards using Instagram’s:
One of the most powerful safety features is you—a child’s mom, dad, or guardian. Your face-to-face, heart-to-heart connection will speak loudest in your child’s life. If you haven’t lately, ask your child what’s going on in their digital life, who their friends are, what they’ve created to share, and what’s new, hilarious, or trending. You may get some resistance now and then but don’t let that discourage you from pressing in and doing all the things that help keep them as safe as possible online.
The post Setting Up Parental Controls in TikTok, Instagram & Snapchat appeared first on McAfee Blog.
For some, vanquishing aliens, building virtual amusement parks, and online battles royale are an excellent stress reliever. As we all know, over the past year there’s been plenty of stress to relieve and more spare time on our hands in which to revel in our hobbies. There was a 30% jump in online gaming traffic from the first to the second quarter of 2020.
Hackers are taking advantage of highly trafficked online gaming portals to make a profit on the dark web. The next time you log on to your virtual world of choice, consider these recent video game breaches and up your gamer security, which could include an antivirus for gaming.
Between 2019 and 2020, web attacks on gaming companies rocketed up 340%, according to Akamai. Hackers have targeted several high-profile gaming companies recently with various motives. First, game source code was stolen from Electronic Arts to sell on the dark web. Developers shopping the dark web use stolen source codes to reverse-engineer popular games or copy the code into their own game. Capcom and CD Projekt Red were hit by ransomware attacks only a few months apart from each other, one attack focused on company financial information and the other on source code.
“Titan Fall” and “Apex Legends” have both been hacked to the point where the former is unplayable, according to many gamers. To protest “Titanfall’s” developers’ inaction, gamers took to “Apex Legends,” altering in-game messages. The apparent ease with which hackers can walk into online gaming portals requires that game developers and gamers themselves pay more attention to their security.
Online PC gaming allows players to use real-world money to purchase valuable upgrades to their characters. These characters receive admiration from some fellow players. Others feel greed. Advanced characters can fetch a lot of money on the dark web, so some cybercriminals practice credential stuffing to force their way into player accounts and steal ownership. Credential stuffing is a type of brute force attack where hackers take informed guesses at username and password combinations. A strong password or passphrase is essential to keeping your account and investment safe from a dark web fate.
Based on the above recent hacks, it is clear that gaming companies host a trove of valuable information. Gamers trust these platforms with their payment information and with the safety of their gaming characters on which they spend thousands of hours and hundreds of dollars upgrading, making gaming a lucrative target for hackers.
Another way cybercriminals target gamers is through malware disguised as an advantage. Cheat software for online games is common as players strive to be the best out of thousands. Advantage seekers for “Call of Duty: Warzone” were targeted by a malware scam. The malware creators advertised the “cheat software” on YouTube with instructions on how to download it. The video received thousands of views and hundreds of comments, which made it look legitimate.
One of the steps in installing the “cheat software” was that users had to disable antivirus programs and firewalls. Users let the cybercriminals walk right into their device! From there, the device was infected by an aggressive type of fileless malware called a dropper. A dropper doesn’t download a malicious file onto the device; rather, it creates a direct pathway to deliver an additional payload, such as credential-stealing malware.
Competitive gaming is, well, competitive. So, if you invest a lot of real money into your characters, be especially vigilant and follow these five important tips to protect your online accounts.
It’s common for gamers to use variations of their real names and birthdates in their public-facing usernames. Don’t use your real name or birthdate in your username. Consider using a nickname or a combination of random numbers instead. Along this same vein, don’t reveal personal details about yourself (phone number, birthday, places you visit regularly) on chats or streams. Lurking cybercriminals can gather these personal details to impersonate you.
On some online PC games, you can join campaigns with gamers from all over the world. While the interconnectivity is great, carefully vet who you allow to follow your online profile. If a stranger sends a friend request out of the blue, be on alert. They could have nefarious motives, such as phishing for valuable personal data. It’s best to customize your privacy settings to make your profile invisible to strangers.
Developers spend a lot of time creating amazing games, so make sure you purchase games legally and play them as they are intended. Be especially wary of free downloads or pirated versions and cheat software, as they’re likely too good to be true. Instead, go for a challenge and have fun with the game as it’s written.
A virtual private network (VPN) scrambles your online data traffic, making it impossible for hackers to access your IP address and spy on your online browsing.
Gaming antivirus software not only makes your online gaming experience more secure, but it can boost your rig’s performance! McAfee Gamer Security detects threats through the cloud and optimizes resources to minimize frame drops.
The post 5 Online Gaming Tips to Stay Safe From Hackers appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
Of all the pastimes that took off during the pandemic, it’s not surprising that online gaming was one of them. After all, gaming offers excitement, new experiences, and social interaction, all from the comfort of home. It’s no wonder then that the gaming industry saw a 20% increase in revenue in 2020, as new and previously-retired gamers returned to this pastime.
But while the gaming industry was finding a lot of new allies, the players themselves faced growing exposure to malware and threats. Our 2020 Mobile Threat Report found that gamers are being targeted with phishing attacks and malicious apps, aimed at stealing usernames and passwords. With this information, hackers could potentially steal hard-earned in-game collectibles, as well as real-world money and personal information. And PC gamers face similar threats, from viruses and spyware to network attacks that could potentially put their personal information and property at risk.
While 75% of gamers surveyed worry about their security while gaming in the future, some worry they’ll have to compromise performance to be protected. That’s why McAfee® Gamer Security offers robust protection to PC gamers with one of the lowest impacts on system performance in the industry.
To protect the growing number of gamers against increasing threats, we are offering one free year of McAfee Gamer Security for one gaming PC to multi-device McAfee ® Total Protection and McAfee® Live Safe users in the U.S. This powerful software was built from the ground up to address the challenges gamers face, with speedy performance, system optimization, uninterrupted gaming, and no pop-up apps.
But don’t just take it from me. This is what one of our users have to say: “I believe [McAfee Gamer Security] had a positive impact … because it increased the speed of my game as well as gave me peace of mind that I was protected during my gameplay.”
We know that gamers are some of the most tech-savvy and connected users out there, so it’s important that we meet them where they are by giving them the performance and security they need to play at full throttle. After all, many users are seeking stress relief through gaming, not the extra worry over their online security.
With McAfee Gamer Security we made security for players more fun, by including a gamer-centric interface that was inspired by familiar apps like game launchers — you can check the current status of your system and key resources that impact in-game performance, like GPU, CPU, and memory, as well as perform real-time optimization. And of course, we’ve also included monitoring for your all-important FPS (frames per second). You can even access past performance data to better understand your game-by-game trends.
Let’s keep the excitement of gaming while adding the extra confidence of knowing that your digital life is protected. Whether you are new to McAfee or already enjoying our personal protection, you can download McAfee Gamer Security for free in under one minute with a qualifying subscription! In our mission to provide users with personal protection, we are welcoming PC gamers with open arms.
The post PC Gamers (and Parents of Gamers) Rejoice! appeared first on McAfee Blogs.
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