In the past, parents were mostly concerned about their child’s physical security, teaching them age-old safety rules such as how to properly cross the street and to never take rides (or anything, for that matter) from strangers. But now with the Internet, children’s virtual security is an additional concern.

The most common threats children face online, according to writers at Symantec and Kaspersky Lab, and the approaches to take to keep your child/children safe are:

1. Cyber-predators

According to Internet Safety 101 and uknowkids.com, there are up to 50,000 sexual predators online at any one time, and one in seven children are recipients of sexual solicitation.

• Teach your child about ‘stranger-danger’.

• Restrict Internet usage.

• Know who your child interacts with online.

• Block access to suspicious chatrooms and social media platforms.

2. Over-sharing

Children tend to unwittingly overshare information online, such as their likes and dislikes, location (school, home, frequented spots), and things about their family, attracting predators and thieves.

• Discuss with your child, what is appropriate for sharing online, and the risks of their posts affecting future prospective.

• Review and update their social media privacy settings to limit their audience.

3. Cyber-bullying

Data from My Action Alert states that 42 per cent of children are cyber-bullied, with just 58 per cent sharing these incidents with their parents or guardians. Victims of bullying suffer emotionally, with extreme cases leading to murder and/or suicide.

• Develop a relationship with your child, where they feel comfortable in talking to you about anything.

• Teach your child about the appropriate ways of handling and avoiding conflict.

4. Online scams and hackers

Children are vulnerable to scams and hacking ploys due to their natural curiosity and trusting behaviour.

• Teach your child to not accept dares, click on links, share passwords, answer personal questions, or fill out random entry forms, and to also be wary of those too-good- to-be-true offers.

5. Malware

Malware targeted at children tend to come as Trojans hidden behind games and other free software downloads, designed to attract children.

• Ensure that only you have administrator rights on the device, to prevent you child from downloading or installing malicious software.

• Install malware protection software on the device.

6. Exposure to inappropriate content

Inappropriate content depicting pornography, violence, drug abuse, etc, can have long-lasting psychological effects on children. Such content corrupts young minds, and in some extreme cases, lead children to becoming addicts, abusers or victims of abuse.

• Use content filters or monitoring tool such as Microsoft Family Safety, to monitor and restrict access to certain websites.

• Discuss with your child appropriate usage of the Internet.

• Warn your child of the dangers of creating, sharing and viewing inappropriate content.

Venesa Watson is the Service Desk Analyst – Security at tTech Limited. She can be contacted at  656-8479/656-8448 or by email at venesa.watson@ttech.com.jm.