WhatsApp: Rather be blocked in UK than weaken security
- WhatsApp has said they would rather be blocked in the UK than undermine their encrypted-messaging system, if it is a requirement of the Online Safety Bill.
- The Head of WhatsApp said they would “refuse to comply” if asked to weaken the privacy of their app.
- Another app, Signal, has previously said they would stop providing services in the UK if requirements of the Online Safety Bill were enforced.
- The government wishes to have both privacy and child safety, with the Online Safety Bill potentially requiring encrypted-messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal to adopt “accredited technology” to identify and remove child abuse material.
- To read the full story, please visit the BBC’s website.
Cyberattacks on young gamers up 57% in 2022
- Research from Kaspersky’s latest report, The Dark Side of Kids’ Virtual Gaming Worlds, has found cybercriminals have launched more than 7 million attacks on children by exploiting popular game titles.
- This is a 57% increase compared to 2021.
- Phishing pages used to target young players mimicked titles including Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite and Apex Legends.
- In some cases, cybercriminals created fake game sites to catch children’s eyes which then led them to phishing pages and to download malicious files.
- The most popular common social engineering technique used to target young players involves offering popular ‘cheats’ and ‘mods’ for games.
- For the full story, go to the Zawya website.
Rise in loneliness among children sparks wellbeing concerns
- Childline delivered 5,564 sessions with children on loneliness between April 2021 and March 2022.
- They are contacted an average of 15 times a day by children suffering from loneliness.
- Children told counsellors they felt lonely for a range of different reasons, including feeling left out of friendship groups and social media chats.
- Childline’s new ‘Day in The Lonely’ campaign aims to raise awareness and encourage children to seek mental health support early.
- It uses three videos to show different ways that children may experience loneliness and it is based on real Childline calls.
- For the full story, go to the Children and Young People Now’s website.
Calls from potential online child sex abusers double in London
- New figures have shown calls to the ‘Stop it Now’ anonymous helpline from people based in London, have doubled over the past year.
- The helpline supports people worried about their own or someone else’s sexual thoughts and behaviour towards children.
- The charity has seen an increase of 114% from the previous year of people seeking advice.
- They have warned men to be careful of their viewing habits, with heavy pornography usage being described as a common pathway into viewing sexual images of children online
- For the full story, please visit the BBC’s website.
County lines gangs use Snapchat as their main tool to lure teenagers
- The police have warned that Snapchat is the main tool used by gangs to recruit children into county lines drug rings.
- Teenagers are then forced to courier numerous different drugs from London to smaller towns and cities.
- Snapchat enables users to exchange texts, pictures and videos that disappear after they are viewed, making it harder for police to fight against.
- Officers have been making classroom visits, urging children to reject messages sent by drug dealers that often look like “who wants to make £500 this weekend?”
- Snapchat have stated they are “proactively searching for drug dealing and people are able to report it in-app.”
- For the fully story, please visit the Evening Standard website.
