Emerging Threats to Kids in the Dynamic Cyber World
As a company, we focus on providing guidance to safeguard organisations from cyber security threats and how to manage the related risks. However, what about cyber safety to us as individuals? The cyber world, being as dynamic as it is, is constantly presenting new threats to us and our children, and we are here to shed some light on some of those current and emerging threats.
Dangerous Challenges – It is in our human nature to compete with others and show-off our capabilities, couple that with social media, and the inexperienced teens, and we end up with silly, yet life-threatening, challenges. To name a few:
- Skull breaker challenge (Feb 2020): First started on TikTock, 3 people jump and try to cripple the person jumping in the middle which may “break his skull”.
- Tide pod challenge (Jan 2018): Tide pods are colorful pods that can be used instead of laundry detergent, it is often warned to keep away from their children as they may mistake it for candy. However, adults fully aware of the consequences of consuming chemicals are participating in this challenge, calling them “the forbidden fruit”.
Cyberbullying – Bullying is a human behavior that dates back to our prehistoric ancestors and it has changed in form as humans and civilizations developed (Sherrow, 2011). Bullies now have a new and improved platform to conduct their sinister acts, they can now target their prey from the comfort of their own home and there is no way to escape. Staying out of social media is not an option, due to peer pressure and the further bullying that may result from it. The following are some statistics related to cyber bullying (Bera, 2019):
of teens have been victims of cyberbullying.