40 percent of British children use the internet unsupervised

Connected devices are a big part of all our lives and that goes for younger members of the family too, but of course connecting to the internet means risk.

A new survey from Intel Security shows 40 percent of British parents do not keep track of their children's online activity, so they don't know when their children are online or what websites and content they're accessing.

According to the survey of 13,000 people, 79 percent are concerned about their children interacting with a social predator or cyber criminal online, and 23 percent of parents say they've found their children visiting websites they don't approve of or believe to be dangerous.

The study shows that parents currently feel powerless about how to educate their children, with 29 percent saying that they would monitor their children's online activity if there was an easier way to do it.

Bedtime is proving to be a particularly big challenge for British families. The advent of smartphones and tablets has transformed bedtime and the days of reading a book with a torch under the covers are behind us. While 28 percent of British parents let their children take their devices to bed where they can't be monitored at all, 42 percent would choose to pause the internet in their household during bedtime if they could to stop their children from being distracted.

Only 28 percent take a proactive stance and keep devices in their possession when their children shouldn't be using them, or allow their children to use the devices only when the correct security measures are in place.

"Technology has revolutionised our home lives, with many parents relying on devices to help their children with learning and entertainment," says Nick Viney, VP of Consumer at Intel Security. "However, we need to empower parents to actively manage how their families interact with those devices, to ensure the benefits continue to outweigh the potential risks. When the correct security and privacy measures are taken, everyone in the family will feel more protected enabling them to fully enjoy all the benefits of living in a smart home."

More about the results including tips on keeping your family safe is available on the Securing Tomorrow blog.

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