Cybersecurity Month continues and this week's theme is "Resist Fishing". Oh yes, the nemesis for the world of cybersecurity - the ubiquitous and highly effective phishing attack.
According to the FBI's Internet Crime Report 2020, last year e-fishing had the highest number of cybercrime victims in the United States. Unfortunately, some of the victims were children.
Experts at cybersecurity company ESET offer some key strategies that parents can follow to help their children avoid becoming victims of the next phishing attack . For those of you who want to learn more about the topic of “children and Internet safety”, you can visit ESET’s saferkidsonline site.
"Phishing" is a disastrous method of cyber-attack based on "social engineering". The following is a brief definition of e-fishing by our Phishing.org colleagues:
"The electronic fishing is a cybercrime in which one or more targets are accessed via email, telephone or text message by someone pretending to represent a legitimate entity to entice individuals to disclose sensitive data such as personal information, bank and credit card information and passwords. ”.
One of the most common examples of phishing is an email that appears to have been sent by a bank but actually leads users to malicious URLs in an attempt to extract their personal information.
As our friends at the National Cybersecurity Alliance suggest, it is important to explain to our children that they need to develop a cautious approach to digital communication. Children need to understand that an email, an SMS, an instant social media message, a phone call or a chat can be an e-fishing attempt. And most importantly, they must understand that it is the guards themselves who protect the gates from these attacks.
Of course, this is easier said than done. E-fishing has evolved and its perpetrators are capable of deceiving even the most careful adults, let alone children.
The "think before you click" tip can be very helpful. Another approach for parents is to instill in the children the "ask me before you click or open it" mentality. This should apply to any unexpected message coming from a stranger or even someone you know.
If we are to allow our children to spend time in front of the screen and have the responsibilities of a "guardian", we must show them how to detect cyber-fishing attempts.
Here, the word "show" is the key word, as simply explaining phishing attacks (and their consequences) is not enough.
In the educational video Protect yourself from Phishing (Stay Safe From Phishing), for example, Google uses a "robber" character to get the point across.
You can show children all the different places these "robbers" go to "fish" their victims, perhaps by creating and printing a list of "places we do not click on things we receive from strangers".
This list might include, for example:
• Email
• Text messages
• Messages on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter
• Whatsapp
• Online games
In the same way you can create a “STOP! DO NOT CLICK! ” to discuss it with your children. This is an opportunity to reinforce some of the warning signs that a message may be an attempt at e-fishing, such as:
Finally, you can show your children a real example of an e-fishing attempt when you receive such a message yourself. It will certainly happen, and it is a good opportunity to present the risk of e-fishing much more effectively.
For more information about Cybersecurity Awareness Month, please visit: https://www.eset.com/us/cybersecurity-awareness-month/
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
