Warning for parents: How your children's identity is being stolen
A leading security company reveals the methods of hackers who exploit children's innocence online and explains the immediate steps you must take at home.
Summer vacation gives children and teenagers long hours of free time in front of screens, and as the school year approaches, this time also merges with connecting to school systems and educational applications. Most parents tend to focus on limiting screen time, exposure to inappropriate content, or cyberbullying, but the information security company ESET warns of another dangerous threat that is difficult to identify: the massive amount of personal information that children leave behind in almost every digital activity.
One of the new and prominent risks stems from the increasing use of AI-based chatbots. Children use them for homework, getting advice, and even treat them as a "friend" in every sense. The danger is that children might share their name, address, school name, medical information, and even selfies in the chat. They do not understand that this information is used to train models, may be stored in the system, and could be exposed in the event of a leak or hack.
Unlike adults who can identify an unusual credit card charge, children are an easy and attractive target for hackers because they have no credit history or banking activity. If their details are stolen from gaming accounts or educational systems (usually due to using identical passwords or clicking on a malicious link), hackers could open accounts or obtain credit in their name. In many cases, the child will discover that their identity was stolen only years later, when they want to open their own bank account.
Alex Steinberg, ESET product manager at Comsecure, emphasizes that alongside technological tools, the conversation at home is critical.
"It is important to go over the applications together with the children, choose different passwords, and enable multi-factor authentication," he explains.
In addition, it is recommended to check privacy settings, disable location sharing, and limit camera and microphone permissions. Above all, it is necessary to explain to children that they should not share personal and sensitive information, and to create an open environment that will allow them to share when they encounter content or a message that aroused their suspicion.
