As the new school year gets underway, parents across the world will no doubt be thinking about how best to approach it and ensure another successful year for their kids in education. While parenting — and education — has never been easy, there are a whole host of new challenges, not least an ever-changing threat environment in the context of cybersecurity and digital wellness. We have also seen an even greater reliance on digital technology and connectivity arise in this post-pandemic era.

It’s these concerns that Trend Micro’s cybersecurity experts have been addressing in recent media interviews. With all the above in mind, we thought it would be the perfect time to provide a review of our media coverage over the summer to aid parents’ strategies for the new school year.

Jon Clay on Fox 32 Chicago

On August 10^th, Jon Clay, Vice President of Threat Intelligence at Trend Micro, appeared on Fox 32 Chicago to discuss scams commonly associated with education and the beginning of a new school year. An accomplished public speaker with over 25 years in cybersecurity, Jon will frequently be seen on television utilizing his experience to educate and inform consumers and families. You can view the interview here.

David Abramowitz on Fox 45 Baltimore

David Abramowitz is Trend Micro’s Chief Technologist. On August 10^th, David appeared on Fox 45 Baltimore to discuss what parents should be on the look out for during the back-to-school season. Given that about half of related shopping is done online nowadays, parents should be wary of deals and discounts that seem too good to be true — alongside other factors such as excessive amounts of 5-star review templates and the lack of a HTTPS in a webpage’s URL. The full interview can be found here.

Lynette Owens on WMAR-TV ABC Baltimore

Lynette Owens is Vice President of Global Consumer Education & Marketing. On August 19^th, Lynette appeared on WMAR-TV ABC Baltimore to discuss the threats facing youngsters as they return to education — from fake scholarships and student-loan schemes to cyberbullying and online shopping scams. A good rule of thumb is to contact bodies directly, and in the event of a confirmed scam or malicious website — to report it to the FBI. Follow the link to watch the interview.

Jon Clay on ABC 7 Chicago

On August 20^th, Jon Clay appeared on ABC 7 Chicago to discuss the email and SMS text phishing campaigns that scammers are utilizing to entrap parents. As above, be suspicious of too-good-to-be true discounts and new websites that you don’t recognize. In the event of falling victim to a scam, “You can place an order, enter your credit card information and you will never receive those supplies,” Jon warns.

Parents and students should be wary of test prep or scholarship offers, and student loan forgiveness schemes advertised via e-mail, phone, or text. “Never click on a link in your email or phone, [instead] go straight to the store’s website, or call your service provider directly to avoid being scammed.”

Lynette Owens on NBC Boston

Lynette Owens appeared on NBC Boston on August 24^th to talk about how parents can keep track of their children’s online activity. Lynette also explains the Internet Safety for Kids and Families (ISKF) program, which she founded. You can find out more about ISKF here.

There’s also the great Family Tech Talk series where you can get tips and advice on a range of topics including digital wellness, security, and privacy. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible, Family Tech Talk is also offered in Spanish. Feel free to sign up online.

As Lynette states, communication is key:

“Don’t minimize the importance of conversation between you and your child, you and other parents, and even you and your child’s school, because their school is also starting to promote the use of technology in the classroom. You all should be talking regularly.”

At the same time, parents should encourage their children not to overshare online, and to use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication. For previous articles on precisely these topics, take a look at our Digital Wellness blog page. As for the interview, you can find it here.

Lynette Owens on NBC Boston

Lynette Owens appeared on NBC Boston again on September 8^th, this time to discuss the threat that ransomware poses to schools. Ransomware is a type of malware that uses encryption to hold a victim’s data or device to ransom. In our just-published article, What Is Ransomware? A Guide to Ransomware Prevention and Removal, we point out that educational institutions are one of the four main targets, due to sub-par cybersecurity coupled with sensitive information. The best defense? Good cybersecurity. You can see the full interview here.

David Abramowitz on Fox 45 Baltimore

Lastly, David Abramowitz appeared again on Fox 45 Baltimore last week to discuss data security and social media platforms. You can find the full interview here. The key takeaway?

The 3Ls:

1. Lower your risk
2. Look for the signs
3. Lift/lock down your defenses

Further Coverage

Highlights:

• InBetween Magazine: Back to School Tips: Internet Safety for Kids

• Privacy Canada: Cyber Hygiene with Myla Pilao of Trend Micro

• IT World Canada Podcast: Cyber Security Today, August 26, 2022 – Protect your Active Directory servers, a huge text-based phishing scam found and more

• IT Nerd: Back to school reminder: Cyber hygiene for kids by Trend Micro

Educational Resources

Our Internet Safety for Kids and Families program was founded in 2008, since becoming a great success by reaching over 3 million students, parents, and teachers in 20 countries. Its Cyber Academy is a fun interactive series for children and their parents to complete lessons and learn all about internet safety and digital wellness. Why not also sign up and take part in the great Family Tech Talk series?

Trend Micro Family

With our FREE parenting tool, Trend Micro Family, you’ll receive updates on what your children are searching for, viewing, and even what locations they have visited. Add to that our real-time AI that blurs inappropriate content, as well as our social media privacy protection tool — and it’s clear why TechRadar awarded it an impressive 4.5/5.

Trend Micro Family’s Social Media Checker will add another layer of protection by preventing strangers from getting in contact with your child. Currently supporting Instagram and Snapchat, Facebook is also in the works. For a full how-to guide, check out our tutorial article. We have also just added the exciting “Allowlist” feature, which enables you to make exceptions to filtering rules — just follow this link to the tutorial.

As ever, we hope you’ve found this article an interesting and/or helpful read. If so, please do SHARE it with friends and family to help keep the online community secure and protected.