Most parents seeking parental control software options have kids in their home using multiple computers and devices, all of which are connected to the Internet. Even a single child may have a phone as well as a computer or tablet. They also are often using their parents personal computer from time to time for school projects or simply to print something.

If that isn’t enough to manage, your family members are connecting to the Internet at school or at a friend’s house. With proper parental controls you can ensure the safety and security of your kids online. Otherwise, it’s difficult to know where to begin. It’s hard enough for a person who has some technical savvy, but what if you are technically challenged?

Let’s face it, a lack of technical knowledge is the case for most of us. We live in an ever changing world where the optimal “kid safety zone” is a moving target. This is where parental control software becomes an essential tool in managing the various needs of any family, according to a range of ages and responsibility.

The good news is, effective parental controls allows you to help keep your family safe in one software download, whether you want to access it on an app or your computer. At Safe Search Kids, we recommend complete parental control management to meet the needs of any family large or small.

Let’s explore what parental control means on every device in your home.

Parental Control is Internet Filtering

Internet filtering is certainly the first priority when thinking about protecting kids from harmful aspects of the Internet. This is the primary focus of our search tools on Safe Search Kids, but we are only a single access search engine. Parent control software takes it one step further by filtering the entire Internet, regardless of what search engine your kids may be using.

Quit simply, it allows you to completely control access to the internet including and blocking websites no matter what device is being used.  The level of restriction can be customized by age. After all, the places your 16 years old can go online is much different than your 7 year old. This includes allowing or limiting access on apps and social media, some platforms of which are only appropriate for older kids.

Parental Control is Screen Time Management

Once you have the peace of mind of knowing all the bad areas of the Internet are completely blocked on every device in your home, you can think about controlling the time your kids spend online. Imagine having peace of mind going to sleep at night knowing your teenager is not able to access the internet past 10 or 11 pm.

These controls can easily be set within the dashboard of your account. Likewise, you can restrict access from your 7 year old so that they can not get online after 8 pm, for example. This screen time management control is at your fingertips for any day of the week from the Net Nanny App or desktop dashboard.

Parental Control Software Monitors Apps

The dangers of the Internet are not just through a website browser. With a software application you can monitor what apps your kids are downloading. You can choose to also block apps you don’t want your family to access at all. As with managing screen time, you can individually customize accessibility for every one in the house and on every one of their devices.

Install our Recommended Parental Control Software Program serving families of all sizes. View family download options.

New apps are being developed and made available on the app store everyday. Whether the app is on an iPhone, Android or Kindle Fire device, you will be notified when a new app is downloaded and installed on any device.

Parental Control is a Location Tracker

Within the parent dashboard, you can also track the location of each family member in real-time from your computer or smart phone. There’s no need to login to an iCloud account and no additional location tracking software is needed. The location tracking feature also allows you to check the past history of where your kids have been.

You can coincide their location with whether or not they’ve been online during that time. Let’s say you agree that it’s OK for your child to go to a friend’s house but you just want them to play. You don’t want them spending time surfing the web or going on social media. This is a way to check up on their activity while out of the house.

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Alerts and Activity Reports

With all these parental control features working in the background to filter, block, and monitor online activity there is an additional feature that will help you keep track of things. Firstly, only need to initially set up controls and restrictions for each family member one time. From there it’s easy to fine tune controls as needed. 

Get instant alerts when suspicious photos or texts are detected on your child’s phone. Be notified when specific search terms are entered or when an app is being downloaded. What your kids are searching for online is also an insight into struggles they may be having, including bullying or feelings of alienation with friends or at school. Read about how this app even encourages good driving habits with driving history reports.

Safe Search Kids recommends software solutions, which is also a parental control App for Android, iOS and Kindle Fire users, as well as dashboard access on computers and lap tops. Features can be applied on multiple platforms, including Android and iOS smart phones, Kindle Fire, Windows and Mac computers.

FamiSafe is a parental control software and app download created by Wondershare, an innovative company focused on delivering a variety of user friendly tools for individual consumers, education, government, and business markets. They are a reputable and top rated provider of Internet protection tools specifically designed for the non-technical user.

Teaching Internet Accountability and Responsibility

Monitoring and Controlling online activity should always be coupled with showing kids how to be responsible on their own. We all know putting kids in a cocoon will not prepare them properly for life in the read world. Setting up boundaries for kids is of course important, but some of those boundaries can be more lenient for older aged kids while allowing them to learn online responsibility. An internet blocking software can protect kids while they learn how to be responsible with the level of freedom you give them. The older they get and the more responsibly they use that freedom, the more trust we extend.

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Parental Controls answer these questions about your kids’ activities:

1. What exactly are my children doing online or on their mobile phones?

• Are they chatting with social network sites like Facebook, Snapchat?
• Are they visiting pornographic or other inappropriate sites?
• Are they being bombarded with inappropriate ads on pages for guns, cigarettes, drugs or other illegal activity?

2. How much overall time is really spent on a daily basis on their phone and computer talking to friends or other socializing?

Now Here are Some Facts That May Surprise You

1. One in 5 kids between 11-18 have been solicited online.
2. 60% of kids are exposed to porn before age 12.
3. Over 65% of kids have accidentally visited an inappropriate site online.
4. More than 25% of kids have been cyber bullied, but only 10% of these incidents were told to parents.

We trust our kids to do what is right, but there is so much filth lurking on all corners of the internet and as parents, we should be very concerned – even for the innocent child who is 100% aware of all the dangers involved, it is next to impossible for our children to be 100% protected. In addition to our lack of time, it is an impossible task to manually monitor our children’s online activities. The latest internet and mobile technology supersedes make it impossible.

Why Every Parent Should be Using Parental Controls on Every Device in their Home

Even with the most strict guidelines in place, it is nearly impossible to monitor your children’s activity online doing it manually. In the past several years, a new niche of software has been developed to help families monitor overall online and computer activity.

If you have a gamer in the house, parental control software will allow you to control time spent online.  But it’s not an anti-virus program that protects from outsize threats while gaming.  For that explore Gamer Security. 

Parental Control Software is a must.

While there are several in this field, what they all have in common is that the specific monitoring is automated. This does not mean that you can rely on the system 100% of the time to monitor what your kids are doing – parental supervision is essential, whether they are using a laptop, desktop, tablet or mobile phone.

Parental Control Software provides an integrated time management and internet blocking & monitoring solution with the following key features:

• Restrict Internet & Computer Usage based on a customizable schedule or time limits.
• Monitors chatting/instant messaging based on a time limit or schedule.
• Access phone activity reports including what apps they install or uninstall.
• Award-winning automated filter of porn, illegal, vulgar and other inappropriate websites.
• Ability of parent to create White “Trusted” list and Black “Restricted” lists.
• Dynamic Content Blocker – blocks inappropriate banner ads on webpages.

Download our most-trusted parental control software.

The internet has enabled a lot of things in today’s modern world. In the early 2000s, the internet changed how businesses advertise their products and services. Many businesses dumped the traditional offline techniques and adopted online advertising through the internet.

Later, they realized that they could not advertise to everybody out there. The need to advertise to relevant audiences gave rise to behavioral tracking. By that we mean, businesses track your online movements and decide whether you’d be interested in what they do before sending ads your way.

This method relies on web cookies and not only tracks previously visited sites but the location, etc. But then, internet users in the mid-2000s discovered ways they’d stop this snooping. They’d disable cookies and use ad blockers, making it daunting for businesses.

But in a bid to keep up behavioral tracking, advertisers are now using new and much more sophisticated techniques. The latest trick that has made tracking possible is device or browsing fingerprinting.  This article will look more into what it is and how it can help companies and advertisers track you.

What is Browsing Fingerprinting?

Device or browsing fingerprinting is a technique initially designed to track internet users for security purposes. It involves browsers gathering individual information of internet users and availing it where needed. This information includes location, device type, screen resolution, language, etc.

Trackers do not need to collect your information at a go. It can take a few browsing attempts to match details and create a unique and accurate fingerprint for every user. Consequently, they can track your online activity and movements without a problem.

This technique has evolved a lot from the time it first got introduced. Recent developments have made cross-browser fingerprinting possible, consequently making tracking more effective. According to experts, this dynamic technique is capable of identifying internet users 99% of the time.

On the positive side, browsing fingerprinting has played an important role in shaping the digital environment. It has enabled analytics and tracking for website owners. You can now know the number of visitors visiting your site and how many visitors return to it.

Online safety that wasn’t a guarantee before fingerprinting is now almost one. For instance, it has played a great role in identifying and preventing credit card and bank fraud. E-commerce fraudsters also now have a headache to try and defeat the wall fingerprinting has built.

How they fingerprint you

Although trackers cannot match fingerprints with real identities, there’s so much they can do you’re your information. Businesses are hiring third-party companies to collect the information we mentioned earlier. Now, their work is to discreetly monitor your digital movements and keep bits of data about you.

The data brokers hired to collect your information create a general profile of you. They look at your interests, from the sites you visit, consider the language you use, your location, and age range to create a pseudo profile for you, and that most of the time turns out to be an accurate representation of you.

Fingerprinting, as mentioned earlier, got developed to foster online security. Website owners create digital fingerprints to prevent identity theft, credit card fraud, software piracy, etc. Thus, many businesses and websites that benefit from it will tell you that it isn’t all that bad.

However, online privacy has been a concern for years, and browsing fingerprinting interferes with it. Companies exploit the information received from data brokers, and that is a consistent privacy violation. Thus, many internet users would rather protect themselves using security tools than have someone collect such critical data without consent.

Browsing Fingerprinting – How to Fight Back

Internet users get faced with a dilemma whenever the browser fingerprinting topic comes up. Of course, people want to find ways to stop it like they do with traditional behavioral tracking. However, the downside is that browsing fingerprinting is naturally difficult to circumvent.

A more positive thing that has come about is that you can, to some extent, prevent browser fingerprinting. Some privacy-first browsers like Tor make every device look the same. That makes it difficult for bots to collect the information required to create a digital fingerprint.

Safari, a browser that belongs to Apple, is another difficult one to fingerprint. Apple has a smaller product line than many mobile devices and PC manufacturers, making most of its devices look similar. Consequently, you become immune to fingerprinting if you’re using an iPhone or Mac.

Firefox is another potential option for internet users looking to avoid fingerprinting. This browser has invested in aggressive default privacy protection features. Besides, there is a word that it is also advancing its protection features to block fingerprinting in the future completely.

You can also use an SSL proxy to fight back browsing fingerprinting. The best thing about using this proxy is that it enhances your online security and privacy at the same time. Besides, they help you remove ads that you do not like and aid in ad verification to reduce online fraud.

Although fighting back on new technology isn’t easy, it is best to give it a try. Technology itself has made it possible to fight back, thanks to the software developments and protection features being added to browsers.

Conclusion

The digital landscape is increasingly becoming complex every day. Consumers are becoming careful about what they have to do to browse securely and privately. Conversely, marketers and advertisers are hungry for customer information as they look to up their marketing game and reach business goals.

New tracking techniques like browsing fingerprinting are becoming popular since traditional reliance on cookies is no longer reliable. However, internet users are also becoming aware of new ways to curb fingerprinting. The use of protective browsers, proxies, and developing new privacy rules seems to work.

With browsing fingerprinting constantly changing with new advancements like cross-browser fingerprinting, you have to be smart enough to prevent it. One of the best things you can do is investing in reliable software, using protected browsers, or purchasing well-protected devices.

Microsoft 365 accounts have come under increasing attacks by hackers. It seems like no organization is safe if reports are anything to go by. It seems like no organization is safe if reports are anything to go by.

Microsoft released a report that the level of threat sophistication is rising. It makes it harder for them to identify cybercriminals. Key areas of concern are the internet of things (IoT) devices. Other threats are ransomware, and credential harvesting. In 2019, the company blocked 13 billion suspicious and malicious emails.

Foreign governments are also playing dirty. They are working with hackers to monitor US treasury department emails. They also used software and Microsoft Office 365 to get access. Hacking is, without a doubt, a major concern for everyone. It is crucial to prevent such attacks.

Parents must also be extra watchful. You must take the necessary steps to keep kids safe while online.

We will show you everything you need to do to secure your Microsoft 365 account.

How to Secure a Microsoft Office 365 Account and Keep Your Kids Safe While Online

Microsoft Office 365 accounts are critical for most businesses. But, they have also become quite popular amongst hackers. Once the cybercriminals are in your system, they access services and applications. Such include the calendar, SharePoint file, email, and Onedrive.

It will compromise your online security and expose you to different threats. Hackers will use several methods to get excess. Such include:

• Phishing through the use of fake login pages. They will often ask you to change your account settings, including the password.
• Business email compromise where the hacker uses a genuine Office 365 account. You get an email asking for specific information or action. Be careful about opening links whose source you do not know. Be wary of emails that have a lot of urgencies, especially to send money.

How to Know When a Hacker Compromises Your Microsoft Office 365 Account

There are specific things that show that your Microsoft Office 365 account is not safe. Such include:

• An increase in email deletions due to the mailbox rules
• Difficulty accessing account
• Changes to your account that you did not allow
• Suggestions for new actions including Mail forwarding or moving orders
• Requests for password changes from location to do not know
• Many login attempts
• An increase in inbox activities that you are not taking
• Changes to your profile, contact details, signatures, and credentials

Steps To Take To Secure Your Microsoft Office 365 Account

If you are on the receiving end of hacking, it can be scary. There are steps you can take to restore safety on Microsoft 365. Remember online security starts with you. Watch the sites your children visit.

If possible, restrict access to some of the sites. Only use secured networks when you are online. Also, enable the firewall and install the necessary antivirus protection on your devices.

1.   Work Offline

When you always connect your computer to the internet, hackers have an easy way of finding access to you. The alternative is to work offline as much as you can. It is a good idea to consider if the kids use the computer a lot, especially for school work.

Install the desktop version of Office 365. It eliminates the need to depend on the cloud to access the applications. You still have access to your programs without needing internet connectivity.

2.   Use Microsoft Office for Chromebook

To increase security, consider installing Microsoft Office for Chromebook.  The Chromebook’s design focuses a lot on security features. It makes it safer than Linux, Android, iOS, and even windows.

Chromebook works by blocking any installation attempts. If there is a malicious virus in an email, it will not attack your system. Everything you do when using Chromebook is cloud-based.

It makes it harder for hackers to get access to your system. The developers are always rolling out updates. Verified boots, and sandboxing also help prevent infection. In the long-term, you save a lot. You do not need external malware or virus protection.

3.   Use Strong Passwords and Multi-Factor Authentication

A weak password can compromise your safety. Take the time to craft a strong password for your accounts. A combination of numbers, letters, and symbols is a good idea. Avoid the use of birthdays, anniversaries, and 1234 as passwords.

Enable the password expiration so that you only use the password for several days.

Multi-factor authentication requires the use of an extra password to access the account. It uses information that only you would know. It may ask questions like who was your first teacher. What was the first object that you ever bought for yourself? Who is your favorite author? The answer you give becomes your second password.

4.   Configure Your Office 365 Accounts

Be careful about how you use the administrative account. Do not give access to everyone and assign privileges. You should not use the admin account for administrative use.

Before you access the admin account, make sure you close all other browser sessions. Do the same for any email accounts that are currently running. Once you finish using the admin account, make sure you log out completely.

Do not let anyone else get access to your emails or calendars. Avoid Mail forwarding to external domains. Remove global mail forwarding that the attacker may have created.

Also, take advantage of the security measures that Microsoft Office has in place. The company is even using artificial intelligence to improve the Microsoft defender.

5.   Secure Mobile Devices

Take note of the mobile devices you use as well. Microsoft Intune is a mobile device management tool that helps you secure your data. You can use it on IOS, Windows, Android, and iOS devices. If you lose your device, you can wipe out the data remotely.

Final Thoughts

From our article, we have shown that hackers can breach Microsoft Office 365. The good news is that there are specific steps to prevent breaches. Come up with a strong password and take advantage of the multi-factor authentication.

Download the desktop version of Office 365 so that you do not depend on the cloud. The other option is to use Microsoft Office for Chromebook. You get to enjoy the security features of the latter.

It is important to keep the kids safe while online. Use some of the tips we have shared above and enjoy peace of mind knowing they are safe.

Learn more about computer safety and how to protect yourself from hackers:

How To Protect Your Computer at Risk

You might have recently heard about some of the scandalous accusations that have been aimed at TikTok. Their accused lack of respect for peoples’ privacy and for online security has led to people wondering if they are spying and even seen calls for the app to be banned in the USA.

In this guide, we’re looking at some of the reasons why people are so suspicious of TikTok and going in depth on whether or not you should trust this social media giant.

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media company that is similar in some respects to other visual platforms like Vine and Instagram. It focuses on short, snappy videos. There are effects you can add as well as songs and soundtracks, and these make a lot of the videos perfect for sharing. There are TikTok celebs in the same way that there are YouTube celebs as the younger generation especially become infatuated with the platform.

The TikTok Controversy: Is TikTok Safe?

People suspect that they are less than honest for a few different reasons. The Chinese company that owns TikTok has been accused of working with the chinese government and the CCP in order to spy on Americans and other nationalities using the app.

Also, TikTok has had a chequered past where 42 million user profiles were exposed in a massive data leak, and because it is quite an open platform it can be abused by some scammers.

Why would TikTok want to steal peoples’ information?

It is hard to know the exact motives, but the accusations of links to spy groups suggest that they could wield some very powerful information. If the TikTok security was breached (something that a lot of people are concerned about) then this information, and the huge amount of data that the app requests to store when you use it, could be utilized for those with sinister intentions.

One of the things that has made people suspicious is the fact that TikTok records so much, including your location and even your device’s keystrokes.

Identity Theft Facts

Did you know that cybersecurity statistics show that nearly 1 in 3 DATA breach victims (30.5%) also suffered from identity fraud In 2013 – up from 22.5% in 2012. And this was years ago, Identity theft has been on the rise ever since, before TikTok was even on the scene. This type of theft is becoming more viable, and more easy to implement for certain criminals and this means that it is growing. Identity theft could well overtake physical forms of theft. People can use your details to borrow money or even to commit crimes, so it is important to be really cautious about what information you make available.

Identity theft can seem like something a bit abstract and like it is not relevant to you, but over 60% of those hit by scams say they have no idea how it happened to them. You can never be too careful as it can happen to anyone out there.

How to protect yourself and your children from Identity Theft

If you are at all worried then you should remember that you don’t have to get a TikTok account, and even if your children are desperate to have one, you might want to discourage this use of social media wherever possible. Though it doesn’t seem fun, it is worth actually reading the privacy policy and terms and conditions of the app. If you aren’t comfortable, steer clear.

If you do create an account, ensure that it is a private account, and see if your device will allow you to stop apps and third parties tracking your use of the device while you use the apps as this can be a way to prevent identity theft and stop loads of details about you and your life from being collected. 

How Safe is TikTok for Kids?

As with any social media platform, there are certain risks associated with the app that parents should be aware of. One risk includes the potential for exposure to inappropriate content. While it’s true that the app’s official guidelines prohibit illegal or inappropriate content to be shared, it’s worth noting that there aren’t real people managing this process. Instead, TikTok relies on digital algorithms to automatically filter out content that violates the app’s official guidelines. The reality of this is that some illicit content will inevitably fly under the radar and end up on users’ screens.  

Another area of concern is the potential for communication with strangers. With over one billion users on the app, the risk of contact with strangers shouldn’t be ignored. Kids aged 16+ that create an account will have their profile set to public by default, and their account activity is visible to anyone. While accounts made by children between the ages of 13 and 15 are automatically set to private, it’s not hard to bypass this restriction—all they have to do is enter a false birth date when they register for an account. 

While there are many parental controls parents can activate to mitigate many of these risks and create a safer experience for their children who use the app, it’s still important to be educated on the potential dangers that come with any social media platform. Knowing what privacy settings you can manage and taking time to set technology boundaries with your kids are some of the best ways you can ensure your kids are protected on TikTok. 

What Will Happen To TikTok?

Nobody has specific proof that TikTok is being used to spy on people or to steal identities. In the world of politics there is plenty of debate about the app and its use as people realize just how much power the owners of the app, ByteDance, who first acquired musically then transformed it into TikTok, could have if they really are tapping into that personal data.

If the claims are valid then it is probably a good idea to come off the app, but also to protect yourself in other ways. You can use identity monitoring services to try and establish whether data about you has leaked or become available on the black market. If some of the claims that have been made about TikTok and the Chinese government links then there is every chance that there will be some really drastic measures taken very soon.

The Future of Tiktok

TikTok seems to be tightening up some of its security.  The recent bad PR has led to the app trying to build confidence from consumers that they are not trying to steal data from people or collude with parties who are less than trustworthy.  It still remains to be seen how safe TikTok can be for kids.

The app could be removed from app stores if it is not up to scratch in terms of its privacy policies, so there are real threats to whether it will continue to exist within the western hemisphere. The threat of this will surely lead to the app becoming more watertight and giving users a lot more security controls. If not, the days of cute cat videos on TikTok could be numbered.