Cybersecurity for children: an investigation into the application of social media

ABSTRACT The paper discusses cybersecurity for children (particularly teenagers) and focuses on Social Media’s impact using a theoretical approach. Many social media users are unaware of their Cybersecurity in Social Media and all-round digital privacy and do not understand the importance of developing privacythrough taking both digital and physical measures. We identify seven categories of hacking motivations through multimedia platforms: Emotions, Financial gains, Entertainment, Proficiency for jobs, Hacktivism, Espionage, and Cyber-warfare, particularly for children. As vulnerable people, they can be the principal victims. We explore various methods used for hacking, such as Sexting, Facebook depression, and Influence on buying advertisements. In our findings, we demonstrate that the most critical protection method is to fully understand the digital footprint left behind and its possible consequences. The users should know this as a self-protection mechanism to mitigate security issues before problems occur. It means adopting the same mindset and attitude of protecting oneself in the online world as in the real world.