We have now entered an era in which minors can not only make contact with strangers who are either pedophiles or identity thieves; they can also do so on devices that they can carry with them. They can also rack up huge bills by purchasing expensive games and other apps for the phone. Many parents would like to keep Smartphones completely out of the hands of their children, but the fact is that these gadgets can also enable them to get themselves out of trouble and even save their own lives. For example, they can use the phone to call for help if they get lost or become the victims of crimes.
Fortunately, you now can “have it both ways.” Software developers, including many of the same companies that have been making antivirus software for over a decade, have come up with a number of ingenious new programs that parents like yourself can use to protect your children when they are using your mobile phone, and several of them will be described below.
Total Defense Mobile Security Suite
This is a product that, among other things, allows you to monitor your children’s mobile usage and protect them from online predators. You can look at their contact lists, monitor all the emails that they send out and receive, and view their call logs and text and multimedia messages. The app also includes GPS tracking, so that you always know where your children are. Total Defense — like most of the apps discussed here — is a general security program that includes all the elements necessary to protect your mobile phone against malicious software and locate it should it get lost. It works on practically every line of smartphone.
Kaspersky Mobile Security 9
Kaspersky comes with all the tools that you need to protect your young ones from harm and to prevent them from making expensive purchases. It allows you to create two basic kinds of lists — an inclusive white list on which you place the numbers of people you trust, and an exclusive black list on which you place the numbers you want to block. You can also use “masks” to block out numbers some of whose digits you are unsure of, or those of a certain type. GPS tracking is also included. The program is password protected to keep your child from deactivating it.
Phone Sheriff
Phone Sheriff is another effective program for monitoring mobile activity and filter out anything that you do not want. With it you can:
- block out numbers from being called and/or tested
- lock the smartphone so that it can be used only during certain times of the day. After all, too much mobile usage — even if not for bad purposes — is not healthy.
- locate or remotely lock the phone via GPS
- view the child’s call records on a secure online call log
Lookout Mobile Security
Lookout is free and is designed for iOS and Android phones. It can handle all of the major mobile security issues, including malware and fraud detection and prevention, scanning apps before they are downloaded to be sure they are safe, blocking malicious websites, wiping data so that no one else can access it and preventing phishing scams. You can also locate a lost or stolen phone. A premium version of Lookout is available as well.
Snap Secure Mobile Security
This program comes in different versions for Android and BlackBerry devices. Both have free trial versions that you can download from the Snap Secure website, and there is additionally a Snap One Suite that also included Snap Sync and Snap MyLife and provides the most complete protection for everyone and everything that you will ever need. You can get monthly, quarterly and annual plans for the Suite.
Training your children in responsible smartphone usage
With all the security and monitoring stuff out there, it is still essential that you teach your children that there is a safe, responsible way of using a smartphone and that if they follow it, they will see the rewards.
