(music) OK folks - here's the lowdown.
Your kids are probably spending way more time on the
internet than you think.
And, when you add technology toys and
gadgets to the mix - well, you'd be
astounded to hear just how much time that actually amounts to.
The question we're tackling today is, how safe are your kids
when they're wired in.
And, we're joined by Ted Kim.
He's a tech guru and an Internet
Privacy Specialist.
And, he's also a dad.
Welcome back.
Thank you.
So great to have you back on the show.
It's great to be here.
I learned so much last time.
Oh fantastic.
So, just how much time, Ted, are our kids
spending on technology these days?
Well, I would ask a different way.
OK.
When are they not wired?
They're always online somewhere.
Even at school now, the kids are using their phones
or tablets to access information.
It's actually a learning tool.
So, they're on it all the time.
The fact is, more than 9 out of 10 kids access the
internet on their mobile devices daily, and they're spending 9
plus hours a day.
Now, what are some of the hidden dangers of
being wired, and particularly our kids?
Yeh, you know, it's the connectivity issues.
It's the fact that everybody out
there suddenly is available and accessible to your children.
So once there onto a connected
device they're everywhere.
They're literally, it could be somebody you don't know, you
don't see.
We think about dangers around our kids as being
geographical and somebody close.
In our neighborhood.
So we go out of our way to protect our children
but we don't do enough about what they're doing online.
The fact is we can't know what
they're doing every second of the day.
So they could be talking to somebody we don't
know.
Now, you're saying essentially that hackers now
have a way to possibly see what our kids are doing online, even
though, you know, I say no no, they can't, but they can access
them through some of these new toys, right?
That's absolutely correct.
So anything that connects the internet these days
is something that is potentially vulnerable.
There's this thing called the internet of things -
our refrigerators, our washing machines, our thermostats.
Everything is connected to the internet now.
And, that includes toys.
So a teddybear today isn't the same as a teddybear that I
grew up with.
I know.
It's much different - it's talking to
something.
And, it's talking to your children.
So if something is there gathering that
information and pushing that back to whoever's collecting.
So that could be monitoring
devices.
You know, I wanna see my baby so I put the monitor
above the crib.
Somebody to hack that and suddenly they could
broadcast that image to the world.
Wow!
I mean so what can we, as parents, do to really
protect our kids?
Well, we have to be aware ourselves.
We have to make our children aware.
We have to talk to them about the
dangers around it.
And, then do everything that we can.
We can do things like basic things.
There's virus antivirus software that's out there.
There's something called a VPN, Virtual
Private Network.
OK.
That what it does is it's masks your IP so
it makes it private.
So if your kids online, your kids are
private and anonymous when they're surfing, which makes
them - they're not a target at that point because they're
virtually invisible.
And, whatever they're doing - if
they're sending pictures to their friends, and they're
sending at Starbucks, then that's OK too because it's
completely protected.
OK now, your company, you've been here
before and you do this.
You can help me or any of our viewers
protect ourselves and our kids, right?
That's correct.
I mean we can do our best but part of this
is letting people know about these dangers and also potential
solutions.
I mean we have to be vigilant about how we protect
our children and what they're doing.
So, I need to take that step forward and be proactive in
protecting my kids in their data lives now.
Talk to me about security breaches.
Security breaches can be anything, you
know, anytime somebody comes into your home then that's a
security breach.
Really?
So we don't consider this as something
that could happen in the physical world as easily.
But, in the digital world it happens
all the time.
Just as I said, on the cameras, for example, most
people install these cameras and they come with a default
password.
Right.
So this default password most people don't
change.
So, if somebody knows that that company uses that
default password across a million devices, they suddenly
have access to a million households.
You're a wealth of information.
Tell me just a little bit more about your
company.
Well, it's called Private Internet Access.
OK.
And what we provide is VPN services
and that really does two things.
It masks IP and it encrypts your data.
So, on the privacy side, you remain anonymous and on a
security side all the data that your transmitting is completely
encrypted and protected.
I need you in my home.
(Laughter) Our viewers need you in their homes.
And one more time, where can we go to find out more about your
company?
Privateinternetaccess.com.
OK, so any questions or just taking
a look at what you do, we can head there?
Absolutely, and we have 24/7 customer support.
You can ask any questions.
It's not just for customers.
We're all about letting people know and
inviting people into the conversation.
OK - I'm sure a lot of our viewers are gonna
head to that website.
Thank you again for joining us.
It's always great to have you on the
show, and COME BACK!
Thank you, anytime.
Alright, and folks don't forget you can also log on
to thebalancingact.com for more information, and don't forget to
follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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