In the News
Even apps designed to monitor adolescents can potentially have security risks. In Teen-monitoring app TeenSafe leaks thousands of user IDs and passwords, Thuy Ong discusses a breach in a popular device-monitoring app, TeenSafe. TeenSafe is often used by parents to monitor their children’s digital footprint, yet a breach in TeenSafe’s servers exposed personal information, passwords, and Apple IDs. Ong identifies that the app only functions if two-factor authentication–a security feature that helps protect credentials and therefore person information– is turned off.
Our Take
Although sharing a child’s activity with a parent does require some opening of trust between the child and the parent, it should not require that trust to be opened to the entire world. Any app that requires the security of accounts–ESPECIALLY accounts belonging to minors–to be downgraded in order to achieve functionality should trigger an immediate red flag and a search for a new app.
Recommendations
Protecting credentials is the first step in protecting the information those credentials lead to:
- Configure multi-factor authentication on any accounts that allow it
- Create strong, unique passwords and, if you are not using MFA, update them regularly
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world and only share what you have to