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SA under pressure to protect online users says survey

SA under pressure to protect online users says survey

Results from a survey conducted by Kaspersky Lab and B2B International in June reveals that many adults in South Africa worry that their digitally-active parents and grandparents are as vulnerable as their children online.

According to research 28% of parents in South Africa feel they have no control over what their children see or do online.

"47% of respondents in South Africa believe that the threats their children face online are increasing. The top concern is the risk of kids encountering inappropriate or explicit content (52%), with 55% convinced that kids have unrestricted access to such content," announced Kaspersky in a statement.

The outcome of the survey also shows that 41% of parents are concerned that their children's Internet-dependency is becoming an addiction according to the cyber security company.

Parents are also worried about the likelihood of children coming across and communicating with dangerous strangers (43%) and sharing too much personal information about themselves (49%).

David Emm, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, said, "Being protective is a parental instinct, but the online landscape is changing the rules. Our survey reveals that many parents fear that the number of threats facing their kids online is increasing, with so much unregulated content available. Worryingly, the study shows that every fifth parent takes no action to keep kids safe and more than half (58%) do not even talk with them about online threats. With a significant number of adults also worrying about the threats facing inexperienced older relatives online, particularly in the form of scams and malware, it is important that these parents under pressure have the software and support they need to keep their loved ones secure."

The risk of kids encountering, and probably failing to recognise, malware and cyber-bullying were among matters listed as worrisome by parents.

"Alongside these direct threats to children, parents also worry that other members of the family could be affected by kids' unguarded behaviour online, for example through the accidental deletion or loss of data (32%), or by incurring unexpected costs (32%) through in-app purchases in online games and more," the company added.

South African parents also worry about the risks their parents might encounter and be unable to deal with when they use the Internet (46%) in terms of the survey.

8% of those surveyed were respondents with digitally-active grandparents and they regard them as even more vulnerable, with 5% of respondents overall expressing worry about what these older relatives might come across.

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