In light of COVID-19, staying on top of everything online can be hard, especially for parents. Here’s four tips to keep you and your family safe as you work, learn, and shelter at home.
Be wary of phishing.
With notable uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 situation, attackers are preying on vulnerable individuals now more than ever. It’s important to remember that phishing emails incite fear, demand immediate action, and attempt to get a recipient to perform an action such as give away personal information or send money. There already have been emails that threaten to infect families with COVID-19, and others that promise fake stimulus checks.
Keep home and work devices separate.
With work-from-home becoming the norm for many, it’s important that users keep their devices, accounts, and information separate, just like they normally do. This prevents an unintended leak of business information and compromise. It’s important to use a company VPN if available while working from home. If you need help getting started with a VPN and understanding why they’re important, check out this great article.
Know what your kids are doing online.
Now that education has shifted from the classroom to online, it’s harder to differentiate the time kids spend online. Have a conversation with your children and set schedules for them. If they have a school-issued device, make sure they’re using it to complete assignments. Many schools have content filtering enabled on these devices so that content is curated to their age level. Parents can also set time restrictions on apps and games on personal devices, allowing kids to use their personal device for a book report, not social media during “school time.”
Double-check passwords for online accounts.
With most work and leisure activities now online, it’s important to double-check those passwords and if you haven’t already, put them in a password safe. As highlighted above, the current dependency on online resources makes them a greater target. Remember to update passwords for social media, online streaming accounts, and banking and utilities.
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