On February 20, VK’s Safe Cyberspace for Children platform hosted a new webinar in the .ДЕТИ Online series, organized by the Smart Internet Foundation and the Academy of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. The new webinar marked the 19th Safe Runet Week, with speakers representing the Kaspersky Kids project, an online security guide for young users by Kaspersky Lab.
Viktoria Bunchuk, Social Projects Director at the Coordination Center TLD .RU/.РФ and the Smart Internet Foundation, moderated the meeting, guiding the audience through the Kaspersky Kids content that includes simulators, informative tutorials and teachers’ content, as well as podcasts, animated videos, and a series for teenagers. Tailored to different types of audiences such as children, parents and teachers, the interactive content helps to grasp the basics of digital literacy and culture, and to learn about responsible behavior online.
Kaspersky Lab Digital Literacy Director Andrey Sidenko presented the Adults and Children Online annual survey, also available on the Kaspersky Kids portal. The survey shows that the age when children are first introduced to digital devices and the internet is gradually going down: while only half of today’s 15- and 17-year-olds began using digital devices before they turned seven, this rate is close to 90% among younger schoolchildren. This being said, parents are the ones who actively introduce their kids to the digital world, using various devices for shared leisure. Almost half of families view content or play games together; 71% of parents regularly check their children’s location using smart devices.
The survey also indicates that malware disguised as media files and scam contests account for a high share of cyber threats targeting children. Particular concern is due to the fact 10% of children have been affected by cyberbullying.
“We advise using cybersecurity solutions, two-factor authentication and strong passwords on all the devices that your child has access to. Explain why it is important to secure data in terms that your child will understand,” Andrey Sidenko noted. Commenting on the latest trend to fully ban social media for children under 16 in Australia and some European countries, he said: “I don’t think this is an effective solution. Instead of completely banning social media, it seems more beneficial to educate children about cybersecurity and teach them how to spot malicious content and respond to threats properly.”
Andrey Sidenko summarized his report with a quick overview of essential internet browsing rules: use parental control, check links before opening, do not download suspicious files, and post only limited personal information online.
All webinars in the .ДЕТИ Online series are available on the Coordination Center’s official VK page.
