WTF Is Safer Internet Day?

Lost in translation

One of the problems parents are facing is their lack of understanding of popular slang and emojis that children commonly use to communicate with friends online.

Research carried out by BT found that 85 percent of adults can’t identify some abbreviations or emojis commonly used online, including phrases such as phrases such as MIA, KMS and the cryptic “99” which could have serious implications.

For example, 65 percent of parents thought KMS stands for ‘keep my secret’ whereas it actually means ‘kill myself.’ Only four percent of adults could decipher MIA, an acronym often used to talk about eating disorder Bulimia, while ’99’ is used by children to indicate to their friends that their ‘parents have stopped watching.’

Some of the more common acronyms were identifiable as more than 50 percent of adults surveyed knew the meanings behind 182 (I Hate You), WTTP? (Want To Trade Pictures?) and (L)MIRL (Let’s Meet In Real Life).

“For young people growing up with technology, this new language comes naturally, but it’s leaving some adults unsure about what is being said by their children online,” said Pete Oliver, managing director, Commercial, Marketing and Digital at BT.

“As we mark Safer Internet Day 2017, we think it’s important for adults to speak to young people about how they use social media and chat online. There are additional measures that can be taken to protect young people online too, such as BT Parental Controls which can limit access to certain sites and set times for when children can use the internet.”

Top tips

There is a mountain of advice out there to help parents deal with these issues and minimise the risks for their children. Intel Security suggests starting conversations about online safety early, setting a good example by limiting your time on social networks when at home and emphasising to children the importance of keeping strangers out of their digital lives.

Norton adds to these tips by encouraging parents to establish a set of guidelines around how their children use technology or create a set of ‘House Rules’ for children’s online communication, downloading and websites that are safe to visit.

Norton also suggests that parents teach their children how to use strong and unique passwords across their online accounts discuss the risks of posting and sharing private information, videos, and photographs, especially on social media websites.

On a slightly different not, Barclays has offered some advice around protecting against online fraud, which is now the most common crime in the country.

The bank’s five top tips consist of: Think before you click (such as with pop-ups and email links); If in doubt, don’t download (attachments are a common way for hackers to infiltrate your desktop); Always question if something is too good to be true (it probably is); Get rid of whatever you don’t regularly use (such as old social media profiles); Look for the lock (always check for the “https” and a padlock icon to the left or right of the URL).

The tech view

Various industry professionals have offered their thoughts on Safer Internet Day, such as Paul Lyden, head of Northern Europe at Barracuda Networks, who believes more support needs to be given to the education sector: “Schools and colleges are expected to play a central role in keeping young adults and children safe online. But, unlike some physical dangers, when it comes to the internet, they cannot combat the threat alone.

“Indeed, a recent survey of education professionals found that, of a range of safeguarding concerns, they felt least equipped to deal with the threat of radicalisation, cyber bullying and cyber grooming. The survey also highlighted the scale of the challenge that exists, with schools concerned about their ability to safeguard pupils on mobile phones, social media and instant messaging platforms.

“We believe Safer Internet Day is an important initiative because it addresses head-on the key internet safety concerns facing our children today and support this initiative by providing guidance to schools and colleges around protecting their students online.”

In comparison, Paul Marshall, chief customer officer at Eseye, believes a greater focus needs to go to internet connected toys, as vulnerabilities are leaving them wide open to attack: “The invasion of a child’s privacy raises two key concerns: someone could watch or actually communicate with your child, and the possibility that someone could easily find out where your child is.

However, a recent report about the trends in internet-connected toys demonstrates the issue of security – or consumer concerns around this issue – are not being treated as a threat to the sector’s growth.

The problems associated with securing connected toys, or any connected devices, are exacerbated by the fact that manufacturers don’t make just one – many make millions of the same thing. This means once somebody has one of those toys, they have the ability to work out the vulnerabilities in all of those millions of products.

The configuration and certification of connected toys is therefore critical in order to ensure they are secure. After all, while a hack hasn’t been reported as yet, it is only a matter of time before one is.”

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