Kolkata: With children getting more savvy with Internet more to the point of hiding their activities, parents can outsmart them using simple software tools that dramatically reduce security risks, say experts.
Pointing out that direct monitoring may be of considerably less use as children today are smart enough to manage the user details and hide some activities, internet security firm Trend Micro's country manager Amit Nath advocates installing parental control softwares.
"With an effective internet security system encompassing parental controls, behavioural monitoring, and rootkit detection and removal, parents can successfully monitor children's activity online," he says.
Highlighting the grave risk that children are exposed to when using the internet, a recent survey in ten Indian cities by global security tech firm McAfee had revealed that 62 per cent of affluent children share personal information online.
"The various risks associated with kids internet usage include inadvertent exposure to inappropriate images or content, solicitation by sexual predators in chat rooms and by email, cyber-bullying, cyber stalking, digital piracy, etc," says Rohit Chaudhary, founder and CEO of eTechies.in.
Agreeing that no parent can monitor children's online activity real time, especially when parents are either busy working or are not that tech savvy, he says softwares available in the market can send a complete transcript of all the sites which have been visited on a particular computer and also block them accordingly.
Trend Micro has now come up with Titanium Maximum Security version, which offers robust and full-featured protection online.
Without having to look over their shoulders, one can easily protect his children from inappropriate websites, limit their time on the internet, and see detailed activity reports about what they do online.
Agra-based cyber security consultant Rakshit Tandon points out that a combination of proper supervision, effective communication and installation of foolproof software should be ensured to curtail the menace of cyber threat.
A simple method, experts say is to access the temp files and cache on the computer to see what has been visited by the child.
Another important aspect, says Trend Micro's Amit Nath is to keep the child updated regarding information on potential cyber threats.
"Cyber criminals have become extremely sophisticated and an average user is certain to get trapped and in this case, children are not as alert as adults and are inclined towards fun factors. Apart from the other security measures, it is important to keep the children educated," he says.
The McAfee survey had showed that 32 per cent children were not aware of any online threats while 12 per cent admitted to have been victims of cyber attacks.
With kids using chatrooms and social networking websites to stay in touch with their classmates during holidays, solicitation by sexual predators in chat rooms and by email appears to be the scariest threat to children, Chaudhary saysines.
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