Back to school; The ideal time to protect your children's devices

For many, the new school year symbolizes a new beginning. For children it is a holiday like New Year's Eve for adults. It's no wonder we want to prepare for this new beginning as best we can, setting ourselves and our children up for success.

"This preparation should not only include the purchase of new school supplies and books, today a very important part is, and should be, digital security and privacy" remind us the experts from the global digital security company ESET. "You may neglect it at times, but unfortunately the back-to-school season provides an excellent opportunity for cybercriminals to scam both you and your children," they point out.

What you can do for a successful school year in terms of digital safety

According to ESET experts, there are various threats to watch out for, such as phishing scams or ransomware attacks. Make sure you're prepared for the most common back-to-school scams, such as scholarship scams, tech support scams, and more. By using these tips you can avoid them and have a safe start to the new school year.

Do's and don'ts, a basic tenacity of protection:

• Do not click on unknown links
• Do not open suspicious emails
• Do not share personal information
• Never use other people's portable devices like USB sticks, smartphones
• Focus on bad grammar or odd syntax in messages you receive from strangers
• Choose strong passwords and don't leave your device unlocked or unattended
• Back up your data regularly
• Ask your school or university about their privacy and security policy
• Keep your operating system (OS) up to date
• If you are a parent, invest in reliable Parental Control programs

Protect your mobile device

Whether you're a parent, teacher, or child, your phone is a powerful tool. It's definitely a tool for keeping in touch with others, keeping track of homework and other school activities. But it is also a tool for malicious scammers to invade your privacy and security. Therefore, his protection is one of the key priorities for a smooth and safe return to school.

A great way to start is by installing reliable security software on your Android smartphones and tablets that will keep you safe from a host of mobile threats while protecting your data.

Such security software aims to create a secure environment by utilizing the Anti-Phishing function. This feature integrates with the most common web browsers (Chrome and more) available on Android devices to provide protection for all your online activities.

We also recommend that you always have the Anti-Phishing feature enabled. All malicious websites, which are included in the malware and phishing database of a reputable security software, will be blocked and a warning notification will appear informing you of the attempted attack.

One more thing. Reliable Android security software will help you make your phones and devices easily traceable and at the same time make them harder to steal helping to protect your valuable data.

The most powerful tool

Your most powerful tool when trying to keep your children safe in the digital world is to educate and talk to them about the healthy use of digital technology and the threats they may face, ESET experts stress. Talk regularly with your children about privacy, safety and proper online behavior. Make sure they feel safe to talk to you about anything that makes them feel uncomfortable in the digital world.