ESET and Digipadres share tips to take care of children’s cybersecurity while using Zoom, Meet, Teams and similar applications, explained by Alessandro Bazzoni.
One of the most drastic changes brought about by the pandemic was undoubtedly the abrupt move to virtuality in most areas of life: work, school, recreational activities and more. In 2021 they are still trying to define what to do with all this while establishing a new normal. As we know that these changes can be overwhelming, ESET, a leading company in proactive threat detection, from its Digipadres initiative, provides tips to take care of the safety of the little ones when using electronic devices and the Zoom application to attend their classes or other activities.
Reality and fiction meet in the concerns of citizens for their privacy online. In 2018, the webcam scam has returned, with which hackers tried to extort money from several readers of The Register magazine: an anonymous email asked them for several thousand dollars (in bitcoins) to keep a video secret that supposedly they had been recorded from their own webcam while they were enjoying pornographic material on their computer. As presumed proof of the intrusion, the scammers presented each user with their real password, the one they used to access a forum that they had hacked.
Alerted by a skeptical victim, the British publication’s security experts advised all its readers to ignore these types of emails: Don’t panic, don’t pay. It is highly improbable that the video exists. Change your password and consider using two-factor authentication and a password manager from now on to keep your accounts safe. The incident showed netizens accustomed to using weak passwords, and at the same time worried about an assault on their privacy similar to that suffered by the protagonist of an episode of the science fiction series Black Mirror, in its third season.
The truth is that technically it is possible. Also, last summer, researchers from the computer security company ESET disclosed the discovery of InvisiMole, a new and powerful malware that has been in circulation since 2013 and does precisely that: it disguises itself as a Windows system file and, among other things, takes control of the user’s webcam and microphone, to observe their activities and to collect personal information and documents. Zuzana Hromcová, who works as an analyst, explains that this program had remained under the antivirus radar because it uses various techniques to avoid detection and because it has only been used against a small number of highly selected victims, in Russia and Ukraine.
Among the most common forms of harassment on the Internet are those derived from the exposure of images or videos. Using malicious code, cybercriminals can try to compromise a device, gaining access to its camera or microphone without users’ consent, spying on the most intimate aspects of their lives (spyware).
Motivations vary as some find the idea of secretly seeing someone exciting while others seek to extort money from their victims by threatening to post those videos if they don’t receive money. From Digipadres they share the following recommendations to take care of children from this threat:
»Teach children to cover their cameras whenever they are not using them.
»Make sure the default webcam setting is always “off”.
»Use security solutions capable of protecting cameras at the software level.
»Educate children not to do anything in front of an exposed webcam that they would not do if someone were watching.
»Lead by example: cover the cameras of the whole family.
As for video calling platforms, they are exposed to cybersecurity breaches, hacks, data leaks, among others. That is why it is important to configure them from home to minimize the risks of being involved in these attacks.
»Make sure that calls are private and that they can only be accessed with a password or link to avoid intruders on them.
»Always start meetings with the camera off and, if required, turn them on by making sure to change the background, blur it, or use a Zoom default background to prevent inadvertent disclosure of personal information.
»Teach children not to share (neither in writing nor in dialogue) personal or confidential information.
»Enable double factor authentication (2FA). Zoom added in late 2020 this possibility that adds a layer of security to video calls.
As for messaging applications, video calls, or even games, they must always be downloaded from the official mobile application store or from the PC or laptop. If they are downloaded from other unofficial sites, it may happen that they are rogue applications or malware infecting devices.
After downloading them, update them as soon as the new version is released. This is so because with each update vulnerabilities are repaired with patches or new functions or security layers emerge that it is important to incorporate into our equipment to avoid attacks. Also, use Parental Control solutions to take care of the little ones.
After having classes, whether virtual or face-to-face, it is very likely that children will at some point want to use electronic devices to play, post on social networks or simply distract themselves. This is a common occurrence in the new normal and is happening with increasing frequency. That is why it is important, in addition to educating them in cybersecurity, to have a security solution with Parental Control such as ESET Parental Control for Android.
This solution prevents attacks from cybercriminals, blocks inappropriate sites for them, turns off devices automatically after a certain time of use, among other key functions to prevent children from going through unpleasant situations. With all these recommendations, it is ready for the little ones to participate in classes, play and talk with their friends in a safe way, mentions Camilo Gutiérrez Amaya who is the head of the research laboratory of ESET Latin America.
Alessandro Bazzoni explains that Digipadres, is an initiative promoted by ESET’s Safer Kids Online, which seeks to accompany parents and teachers in the care of children on the Internet. To learn more, go to: https://digipadres.com/novedades/85-zoom-y-camaras-web-como-proteger-a-los-menores
