Raising teenagers in a digital world is scary. While I do have the inclination to restrict all access to the cornucopia of apps tweens and teens are using these days, I struggle with putting too many limitations on my kids, who just want to fit in with their peers. But when I opened my daughter’s YouTube app this morning and saw a video of a young girl expressing disdain for her parents combined with statements that could be interpreted as suicidal ideation, I felt my heart break into pieces, and I’m sure I’m not alone. 

Parents around the world are also trying to navigate these growing concerns about the impact technology and the Internet is having on young people. Not surprisingly, many parents are turning to surveillance tools to monitor their children’s online behaviors. And, there is “mounting pressure to regulate children’s use of technology in the US,” according to PBS. 

So, how can parents like me get past our fears and strike that delicate balance between giving kids freedom to explore and express themselves among their peers while also keeping them safe online? 

Turns out, we don’t have to do it alone. Protecting young users is a growing concern not only for parents but for cybersecurity experts and developers as well. Paul Raffile, an intelligence analyst who works in digital risk, has been pleading with Meta to implement privacy features to protect teen Instagram accounts from scammers. According to news from Meta, “Instagram is launching a new campaign, informed by NCMEC and Thorn, to help teens spot sextortion scams and help parents support their teens in avoiding these scams.”

Everything comes at a cost, though. As parents and legislators push for regulations to protect kids online, the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns that mandating age verification for young users could threaten free speech and privacy for all users. 

Thankfully, there is much work being done at the intersection of security and privacy by folks like Sauvik Das, Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Human-Computer Interaction Institute and others (like this panel of experts who presented at RSA Conference 2024) who share his passion. 

To learn more about privacy and security, explore the wide array of content available in our Library and consider joining us at RSA Conference 2025 in San Francisco April 28-May 1. 

Now let’s take a look at what else made industry headlines this week.

Oct. 18: An Alabama man has been arrested for hacking the Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.

Oct. 17: Lawmakers are expressing growing concern over Kroger’s plan to roll out facial recognition tools at its grocery stores.

Oct. 17: Microsoft is warning enterprise customers that a bug caused critical logs to be partially lost.

Oct. 16: The Army announced a plan to help small businesses meet cybersecurity requirements through a program called the Next-Generation Commercial Operations.

Oct. 16: The FBI Atlanta Division warns the public of verified influencer accounts being hijacked to spread scams and malicious software,

Oct. 15: Dark Reading reported, “Cyber-threat actors have ramped up their targeting of the 2024 US elections with a flood of malicious activity expected to peak over the next month.”

Oct. 15: According to Microsoft, Russia, China, and Iran are relying on criminal networks to lead cyberespionage and hacking operations against adversaries like the US.

Oct. 14: Gryphon Healthcare and Tri-City Medical Center disclosed separate data breaches and stated over 500,000 individual's personal information was stolen.

Oct. 14: Japanese game developer, Game Freak, has suffered a security breach exposing the data of 2,606 employee and partners.