Teaching Children about Digital Security

More and more information is being released about the major security hack of Facebook, Gmail, and LinkedIn (see Dec 4th post "Hacking Social Media and Password Security"). In my post, there is some basic information about password security, most commonly hacked passwords, and some brief topics about creating better passwords. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that parents need to teach their children about digital security. As you talk to your children about the big issues in life, be sure to add in topics pertaining to their digital footprint. Although, we, as parents, may not accept or understand why our children think so highly of their digital life, our lack of understanding does not give us a free pass to ignore the significance of proper training for them. What they do now online WILL come back to haunt them some day. Parents are catching on to Cyberbullying, releasing too much personal information, and inappropriate selfies, but most of us forget the huge issue of digital security. Improper training can lead to unwanted postings to social media in their name, and the ever rising issue of youth identity theft. Here's some topics for discussion:

• Password security (creating secure passwords)
• Sharing of passwords with friends
• Not logging out of visited websites on public computers
• Updating passwords every six to twelve months
• Password keeper apps ( @keeper is great free app with paid advanced features)
• Writing passwords and keeping them in secure locations such as parents filing cabinets

Hacking Social Media and Password Security

If you are one of the millions of Americans with a social media account then you may be in need of a password change. According to several media sources, over two million user accounts have been hacked. Massive data breaches like this remind us to warn people about password protection and security strength. This is the perfect time of year to update your account passwords. As you plan your new family budgets, fitness plans, and other life goals for the New Year, go ahead and add updating your passwords to the list.Try making an eight letter phrase with one capital letter,and one number. Try avoiding pet names, birthdays, and sequence numbers. Most common hacked passwords are "password" and "2468". 

ReadWrite: 2 Million Passwords For Facebook, Twitter And Others Stolen In Massive Data Breach.