Kaspersky: Only 5% of Parents Worry About Their Children's Safety Online

Kaspersky: Only 5% of Parents Worry About Their Children's Safety Online

According to a recent announcement by Kaspersky Labs, statistics of a Harris Interactive survey of approximately 9,000 users from the USA, Russia and Europe in February-March 2012 show that only 5% of users are prioritizing the protection of their children from 'adult' content. This figure is extremely low, despite the fact that the online community is getting younger, due to personal laptops or smartphones no longer the sole preserve of teenagers.

The report also stated that every third mobile phone (35%) and two out of three smartphones (62%) are used to access the Internet. While 53% of users consider virtual abuse a serious problem, only 10% of respondents cited a fear that their children might be harmed by people they encounter in chat rooms and social networks. At least 9% of users have already caught their children browsing prohibited content, while 4% have discovered them sending personal information to strangers.

To aid parents and help their children get the best from the Internet without putting them at risk, Kaspersky has included a 'Parental Control' module in its Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 software, which helps regulate children's access to websites and applications, as well as monitor their communication on social networks. For threats on mobile devices, Kaspersky has also created Kaspersky Parental Control for Android, which blocks access to websites containing unwanted content and places restrictions on application launches.

In the same survey, it is reported that 46% of users use their tablets to communicate on social networks, while another 47% keep up on their smartphones.

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