Tips for Keeping Parents Safe in the Online World | Total Security

In the past three weeks, we have witnessed many changes in life. People are advised to only leave the house when absolutely necessary, such as shopping for groceries or seeking medical care.

However, there are many technologies available to help us maintain the rhythm of life as before. For example, services like Amazon Fresh or Peapod allow us to order groceries without having to leave the house.

Unfortunately, not everyone can take advantage of it. The people who are at the greatest risk and need these services most are the elderly. The older generation often experiences some difficulties in using modern tools than the younger ones.

In addition, younger and tech-savvy relatives are now unable to support their normal routine due to social distancing and restrictions on physical contact.

In order to stay in touch and make purchases, the older generation is spending more and more time online figuring out how the technology works. This reality adds to the list of challenges they could potentially face, namely cybersecurity risks. According to a recent security survey, as many as 46% of people 55 years or older take no special measures to protect themselves online.

This could result in their credential information being stolen or shared with third parties, as older generations may have difficulty distinguishing between genuine deals and scams from threat actors trying to exploit them.

To help your elderly relatives stay protected online while they are at home during the pandemic quarantine period, we recommend taking the following steps:

• Use telephone and video chat to assist them with remote technical support.
• Share important information about the website where they order food or look for other necessities, or consider helping them enter an account. Always be careful about sharing your credentials. Or help them with their online shopping - many service providers allow delivery to multiple locations
• Explain that they cannot use the same password for more than one website or service. Consider supporting them with a password manager tool to make this easier
• Communicate to them about the dangers of phishing and respond to links in foreign e-mails, social media, and SMS messages, to help avoid fraud when banking and shopping online
• Inform them that they should avoid storing card details on websites they have visited
• Suggest to use trusted services such as from the government or agents under them
• Install reliable solutions for various threats - for example, Protegent360 Total Security - and share the family license with your elderly relatives. This solution includes a practical system to share protection and manage them remotely and allows users to secure their devices and protect their privacy in a variety of ways.