There are security issues common to all these devices. First, in the rush to bring their products to market, developers often fail to test them for vulnerabilities. Second, many of these new devices have uncommon architectures. This can means that either there are no antiviruses for them, or there\u2019s no available interface to put a security solution in place.<\/p>\n
This plays rights into the hands of hackers, who can connect to a smartwatch and spy on the wearer<\/a>, or download a Trojan onto it to steal valuable data<\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition, a smartwatch or tracker is yet another device you need to buy, monitor its battery, wrestle with the settings\u2026 But wait! Your child probably has a smartphone already, right? (To keep it safe, check out our step-by-step guide<\/a> on how to ensure its security.) So that means you can install the Kaspersky Safe Kids<\/a>\u00a0app (available for iOS and Android), which, among other things, lets you monitor your child\u2019s movements<\/a> in real time. The map simultaneously displays all of your children\u2019s devices, together with the battery level of each, so you can see at a glance where all of them are and whether you need to call someone to get them to recharge their phone.<\/p>\n The Kaspersky Safe Kids home screen shows both where your kids are and how much charge is left on their phones.<\/p><\/div>\n By the way, you can now get Kaspersky Safe Kids<\/a> free with a Kaspersky Premium<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>subscription to protect all of your family members\u2019 devices from just about any threat.<\/p>\n\n \nWith the transition to digital teaching aids, parents face the question of which device to get for their kids. A mobile phone won\u2019t do: small screens hurt the eyes. And to write essays you need a normal keyboard.<\/p>\n A shiny new iPad or MacBook Air, then? If it\u2019s a junior schoolchild we\u2019re talking about, bursting with energy, I wouldn\u2019t advise it. An expensive tablet or laptop is likely to get smashed, along with your nervous system. Don\u2019t even ask how many broken screens I, a father of three, have had to replace already. These troubles end only (if you\u2019re lucky) when your kids become teenagers, when they\u2019re likely to start to take more care of their devices \u2014 probably due to FOMO, since at that age social life is everything, and for today\u2019s youth a huge part of it takes place online.<\/p>\n Maybe give your kid a hand-me-down laptop or tablet? Your wallet would appreciate it, but it\u2019s not a win-win. Your old devices need to be scrubbed clean (digitally at least) before they get anywhere near your kids. For tablets and mobile devices, a full reset of all settings and data is best; for laptops \u2014 reinstall the operating system. And clear all traces of your Apple or Google IDs if you don\u2019t want to repeat my wife\u2019s experience: she gave our daughter her old tablet, which was still logged into all her accounts\u2026 linked to her bank cards\u2026 So after just a few minutes of play, our daughter went on an online shopping spree!<\/p>\n Another option is \u201cschool\u201d tablets and laptops, which are simpler and cheaper models. Some of them, like Chromebooks, are even positioned as more secure. That said, many threats \u2014 such as fake browser extensions, hidden cryptominers, phishing\/malicious websites \u2014 affect Chromebooks, too<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \nA lot of parent-child conflicts these days stem from kids spending too much time online or visiting inappropriate sites. The most common method of control is to limit both screen time and screen access with the help of a parental control app such as Kaspersky Safe Kids<\/a>. But some parents think it\u2019s enough to just impose general internet-wide restrictions: when the paid-for data allowance runs out \u2014 no more access.<\/p>\n But this simply encourages children to look for free access on the side. And they\u2019re sure to find it! Either a friend will set up a Wi-Fi hotspot on their iPhone right there in class, or a nearby cafe will let anyone connect without a password. Needless to say, it\u2019s easy to stumble across a fake access point and fall victim to scammers.<\/p>\n There are two ways to overcome this problem. The radical option is to ban connections to unknown Wi-Fi networks on your child\u2019s smartphone and block access to settings by means of an additional security code (for Android smartphones when using Kaspersky for Android<\/a>) or Parental Control. This should work for younger schoolchildren.<\/p>\n With teens, bans are likely to fail. So you\u2019ll have to adopt the more liberal option of teaching your child the rules of safe Wi-Fi use<\/a>. In particular, they need to know that a VPN<\/a> is not just for anonymous browsing of dubious sites, but for encrypting the connection even when using unsecured Wi-Fi.\n<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/86\/2023\/08\/31100610\/EN-back-to-school-threats-2023-part1-01.jpg\")
<\/a>Gadgets for study? We wish\u2026<\/h2>\n
Wi-Fi freeloading is dangerous<\/h2>\n
Get maxed-out protection<\/h2>\n