How to Make Sure Your Kids Don’t Pick Up Viruses Online

You could be super careful about viruses and other computer bugs, but if your kids aren’t well-versed in online safety, your system could be infected anyway. Luckily, our computer-literate and digital-native children are skilled at all things technical, and staying safe online might come as second nature to them. In any event, teach them these five tips so they don’t pick up viruses when they’re not under your watchful eye.

1. Use DFNDR’s Anti-Hacking Feature

A complete anti-virus system like DFNDR helps keep your device safe from malicious software. The Anti-Hacking feature helps keep users protected from giving credentials to fake websites and malicious sites. Once activated, it will send you warnings about the sites that intend to scam you. Tell your kids to pay attention to warnings the system sends about sketchy programs and websites. Click above to protect your kids from malicious websites and allow them to browse the Internet safely.

Read More: Don’t Let Your Kids Infect Your Wi-Fi with the Latest Viruses

2. Remind Your child to Always Log Out of a Website or Device

It’s important to remind kids that they need to log-out of computers, devices, websites, and apps when they’re finished using them. Since many children use computers at school, problems can arise if they leave open their credentials in public places like these. Malicious individuals could easily take advantage of their personal information.

3. Set up Parental Controls

Many problems can arise because children don’t have the same degree of impulse control that you do. Remember to set (to the extent that it’s possible) parental controls on your children’s devices. Most products, including computers, tablets, gaming devices, and phones, have parental controls that can limit your child’s access on the device.

4. Teach Your Children to be Skeptical of Unknown Senders

Your children should never click on unknown links or pop-up ads, or open emails when they come from a sender from whom they are not familiar. Let them know that they should be wary of anything unfamiliar online. Besides, if they’re unsure about the origins of an ad or link, they’re better off not clicking on it.

5. Give Them a Break

Kids, like adults, make mistakes. Your child very well might download a virus onto your computer or phone by mistake, and, if they’re too nervous to tell you they’ve messed up, you won’t be able to remedy the situation. Communication and trust with your child can help if he or she mistakenly downloads a virus. Once you know the truth, it can be fixed by running a virus scan.