Kid's guide to beat cyber threats

Cybercriminals aren’t kind to children. They search for easy targets to steal data, including personal and financial information, making it vital for even tech-savvy children to be aware of potential dangers.
As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, they develop new tricks and scams to gather sensitive, personal or financial information, meaning children and parents need to stay vigilant.
Even if you and your children are cyber savvy, cyber security needs are constantly changing. To help parents, carers and children learn about basic cyber security steps, the Australian Cyber Security Centre's (ACSC) Cyber Security Instruction Manual: A Kid's guide to Using the Internet Securely provides simple advice and activities to engage children and help them learn about staying secure online.
Hints include:
- Use strong passphrases to secure gaming, social media and all other accounts.
- Activate multi-factor authentication to add multiple layers of protection.
- Turn on automatic security updates on all devices to fix weaknesses.
- Set portable devices to require parental approval before software is installed and check settings.
- Parental controls can also be used for this purpose.
- Recognise and report scams.