Many of our children will start this school year learning remotely, either full-time or part-time. Homework (which now has a new meaning) may often come by email or posted on secure websites. This is a good time to remind parents to stay diligent when it comes to online school. The unscrupulous are always on the lookout for another avenue to part you from your money or personal information. Keep these things in mind to help you and the kids be safe this academic year:
- Hover over the address of any email and any included links or attachments to confirm they are legitimate.
- Examine the website address for anything suspicious. If the site claims to be secure, it should start with “https” rather than “http.” Confirm that is the case.
- Be on the watch for tip offs such as misspelled words (particularly egregious in an academic email or on an educational site) or incongruous logos or icons.
- At the risk of adding to the burden of already overworked educators, if you have serious concerns about the legitimacy of a communication, pick up the phone and call.
Do your part to make this school year not just safe, but secure.
Check out our series, Privacy Perils, to learn what steps you can take to guard your personal and company data. For more information about this topic and other cyber security concerns, please contact a member of our Privacy & Data Security team.