Several school districts may be picking up where they left off in March when many schools in the country suddenly shut down due to concerns over coronavirus. Now, as we approach the beginning of the school year, teachers, administrators and families are adapting to an unusual first day of school, and many schools have a focus on online learning. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) encourages everyone to stay safe while online and avoid being easy targets for online scammers.
Parents: Be careful
Creating accounts on websites without permission: Social media sites are ripe with strangers with intentions that may be quite different than yours. Many sites are designed to collect and sell unauthorized user details and behaviors to advertisers looking to engage in targeted marketing. When creating an account, some kids may falsely create a birthdate to meet the minimum age requirement. Know what your child is doing online, and keep track of the social media sites and accounts to which they have access.
Contests and giveaways: Contests and giveaways often collect a hefty amount of personal information on their entry forms. Many are thinly disguised ways of collecting personal or financial information that could lead to identity theft. Make sure your child doesn’t have access to banking or credit card information, and supervise the filling out of any forms.
Phishing: Adults are not the only ones who receive spam and junk mail. Kids often get junk mail, and since they don’t have much online experience, are more likely to be susceptible to click on links and answer questions they probably shouldn’t. While some emails may be legitimate, the last thing parents want, or need, is a $500 bill from a fraudulent website where a purchase may have been made- or worse, giving up personal information that can be tracked back to your home.
Understand apps. Short for “applications,” apps are downloaded software that operates on various devices, such as smart phones. However, certain apps might collect and share personal information about your child, or target your child with ads. Even free apps may include paid features, and children may not understand that some apps or game features cost money, since they were labeled as free to download. They may click on these so-called free games and end up costing parents or guardians a hefty bill at the end of the month.
File sharing sites: Many websites allow children to download free media. What they may not know is these sites often come with the risk of downloading a virus, allowing identity thieves to access the gaming device, personal computer or even cell phone that’s being used. From there, the cyberthief can track financial transactions, physical location or even tap into the household wifi without anyone knowing it.
Teachers and administrators:
Videoconferencing tools: Just like businesses, make certain the online software used to deliver lectures, classroom work and other online interactions is secure. The days of Zoom bombing, phishing and other forms of cyber criminal activity aren’t over.
Evaluate and update cybersecurity plans: The sudden shut down of in person activities left many scrambling to change course in creating and delivering a currculum. Now is the time for educators to create a plan to notify students, faculty and staff should there be a data breach or security problem once classes are back in session.
Keep a clean machine and update devices that connect to the internet: Backing up critical lesson plans, personal information and assigments is the best defense against viruses, malware and other online threats. The only way to do this is to stay up to date on the most current software to protect against them.
