Trend Micro has shared some tips on how to keep children safe online by considering what reaches their children and what their children share. The fact that the Internet can be a relatively anonymous place means that children might feel more emboldened to act in a manner different from their usual behavior. In fact, one in ten (12 percent) parents say their child has experienced cyberbullying while 24 percent of parents say they know of a child in their community who has experienced cyberbullying.  

“The Internet should be a place where you can talk, learn, shop, and share without worrying about your own safety or the security of personal information. One needs to be smart about what to share and whom to share it with, as well as how one behaves. For ensuring this behavior in the kids, parents must play a more active role in checking what is reaching their children and keep them safe from inappropriate content, unwanted contact, aggressive commercialism and security threats” commented Suchita Vishnoi, Head – Marketing, Trend Micro (India & SAARC). The ultimate goal of our Internet Safety for Kids and Families initiative is to build a generation of responsible digital citizens whose online behaviors demonstrate media literacy, safety and security, ethics and community” she added.

Trend Micro has detected a shift in terms of data disclosure. One of the predictions for this year is that the new social networking generation will redefine the meaning of “privacy,” being more likely to reveal personal data such as email addresses, cell phone numbers, and school names to other parties. Moreover, the various applications and services available online mean that children can readily access files such as movies, music, and software; however, these might be illegal, or might be malware in disguise that could infect the user’s system.