October is National Cybersecurity Month. This is a great time to encourage teens to take steps to better protect themselves and their devices. NetSmart.org provides a list of 5 things they should do to start:
- Change their passwords. Remind them to change passwords often, make them easy to remember but not easy to guess, and to keep them private (no sharing with friends!).
- Edit privacy settings on all of their social media sites and apps so only people they have approved can see what they post.
- Check for software updates on their computers and mobile devices. If they’re not using the most current version, they might be missing out on some important security fixes.
- Find the reporting features on the sites and apps they use so they know how to report spam and potential scams.
- Check the location settings on their smartphones. They should turn off GPS for any apps that don’t really need it.
For additional resources check out NetSmart.org.