What to Tell Your Parents About Cybersecurity at the Holiday Party
When I was a kid, my parents asked the same question at the dinner table every night. "What did you learn in school today?"
"Stuff."
But over 30+ years in IT, I've noticed one subject kids will happily teach their parents: technology.
Ask a twelve-year-old to fix the TV or your phone, and you'll get a full lecture.
So here's my suggestion for the next couple of weeks. Sometime between the meal and the pie, while three generations are in one room and at least one phone is being passed around for help anyway, spend ten minutes on this list.
If you've got a teenager in the house, hand them the list and let them run the family meeting.
No scare tactics. Just six habits, in the order I'd do them with my parents.
1. Pick a family code word
Scammers call pretending to be a grandchild in trouble, a bank, or a hospital, and the calls are getting harder to tell from the real thing. The fix is old-fashioned. Agree on one word that only the family knows. If someone calls with an emergency and asks for money, ask for the word. If they don't have it, hang up and call the person back on the number you already have.
2. Nobody real gets paid in gift cards
Not the IRS, not the power company, not tech support, and not your boss. If anyone asks for payment in gift cards, the conversation's over. Say it out loud at the table so everybody's heard it from someone they trust. Gift cards are only good for stocking stuffers!
3. Don't click or tap the delivery messages
December is package season, and the fake shipping notices come with it. If a text says a package is delayed, close the message and open the store's app or the carrier's website yourself. The real tracking information will be there.
4. Set up a password manager
This is the gift that takes thirty minutes. Most people reuse passwords because nobody ever sat down and helped them stop. Install a password manager on Mom's phone, move her email and bank logins into it, and show her how it fills them in. Then turn on an authenticator app for her email, because codes by text message aren't good enough anymore.
Use fingerprints or Face ID whenever possible. It's the same training we do for businesses' employees, only with better snacks.
5. Turn on automatic updates
Open the settings on every phone, tablet, TV, and laptop in the house and switch updates to automatic. Then run whatever's waiting. Granddad's tablet has probably been asking politely since March.
6. Freeze the credit
(The Advanced Move for High Risk Adults)
A credit freeze is free; it takes a few minutes with each of the three bureaus, and it stops someone from opening new accounts in your name. I tell people to move through life as if their information is already out there, because for most of us it is.
A credit freeze makes that information a lot less useful.
What to do if someone at the table has already been fooled...
It happens to smart, careful people every day. Please don't let anybody feel embarrassed about it. The best thing a family can do is make it easy to say, "I think I clicked something," without a lecture or guilt trip, because the people who speak up fast lose the least.
Nobody should have to decide whether something's serious enough before raising their hand for help. Asking for help is smart.
Why is an IT company writing about your grandmother's phone?
Because your employees have families too. When somebody on your team is dealing with a drained account or a stolen identity at home, they're on the phone with the bank during work hours and worried the rest of the day. Habits learned at the kitchen table show up at the office on Monday.
If this list is useful, forward it to the person in your family who ends up doing everybody's tech support. They'll know what to do with it.
Happy holidays from all of us at Solve iT.
Quick Answers
What is a family code word? It's a word only your family knows. If a caller claims to be a relative in trouble and asks for money, ask for the word. If they can't give it, hang up and call your relative directly.
How do I know if a delivery text is real? Don't use the link in the text. Open the retailer's app or the carrier's website yourself and check the tracking there.
Should older adults use a password manager? Yes. A password manager removes the need to remember or reuse passwords, and a family member can set it up in about thirty minutes.
Does a credit freeze cost money? No. Freezing and unfreezing your credit with the three major bureaus is free in the United States.