Experts discussed how to fight cyberbullying on children at Cyber Polygon 2021

At the international online cybersecurity training Cyber Polygon 2021, organized by BI.ZONE, Stanislav Kuznetsov, Deputy Chairman of Sberbank, and Henrietta Faure, Executive Director of UNICEF, discussed the important issue “Cyberbullying and more: how to protect children from the threats of the digital world?”

Stanislav Kuznetsov cited UN statistics, according to which more than 70% of children in the world are Internet users (this is 30% of all Internet users of the planet). 95% of teenagers have smartphones, and 45% are online most of the time. While the Internet offers huge educational opportunities for children, the World Wide Web is a dangerous place full of cyberbullying, social engineering, violence and phishing. And children are the most vulnerable to digital threats because they trust each other more, and it is more difficult for them than for adults to distinguish good from evil.

Henrietta Faure agreed that cyberbullying is a very big risk. She thinks authorities should control it because they have laws and a justice system. They can restrict illegal activities on the Internet.

Moreover, she considers it very important to always be in touch with your children and to know what is going on.

“You need to hear and listen to your children. Take your time: ask them what they are doing online. Often parents think that children will always come to them for advice, but this does not always happen. That’s why we need to tell our kids that they need to let us know all these things. If the criminals successfully attacked one victim, they will attack millions of others. And if one teenager knows which service to contact in case of a problem, he will tell his friend,” said Henrietta Faure.

“Children are our future, and it is obvious that we need to expand international cooperation to protect them,” concluded Mr. Kuznetsov.

Henrietta Faure agreed that UNICEF’s cooperation with large companies and ecosystems, such as Sberbank, can be very fruitful.