• Cybersecurity expert and Charles Sturt Alumnus Dr Alan Ibbett will deliver an online cybersecurity lesson to parents and caregivers across Australia

Technology experts from Charles Sturt University are helping equip parents with the tools they need to keep their children’s smartphone data safe.

The cybersecurity initiative offers parents and caregivers a free online Zoom session on Tuesday 5 December at 7pm, delivered by cybersecurity expert and Charles Sturt alumnus Dr Alan Ibbett.

Project lead and Associate Professor in Computing in the Charles Sturt School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering Yeslam Al-Saggaf (pictured, inset) said the lesson will show parents how easy it can be for sensitive information to be leaked from a child’s smartphone.

“Children think when their phones are in their pockets and not actively in use, they are muted and secure,” Professor Al-Saggaf said.

“But the reality is, as long as their phones are on, they can leak a substantial amount of security-sensitive information.”

Professor Al-Saggaf said the lesson would focus on techniques like turning off their Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, changing the name of their smartphone and switching off their location services.

“Children are not aware, for example, that when their location services are on, anyone can track their locations over time and can then draw their locations on a Google map,” he said.

“This is why it is important that children protect themselves from smartphone’s leakage of their security sensitive information, and parents and caregivers play a key role in helping them to do so and knowing safe boundaries with technology.”

The lesson is part of the broader initiative supported by the eSafety Commissioner under Round Three of the Online Safety Grants Program and has seen several cybersecurity workshops delivered in person across several high schools.

The free session can be accessed via this Zoom link.

ENDS