For the past three weeks, South Africans were forced to accept radical changes in their lives due to Covid-19 lockdown.
With social distancing coming into full effect, people have been urged to only leave home if it is absolutely necessary and shop for essential items.
There are plenty of technologies to help us maintain the usual routine in daily lives.
However, the people who are at greatest risk and need these services most – the elderly – often experience some difficulties in using modern tools. To make things more difficult, their more tech-savvy relatives cannot help with their daily routines due to social distancing.
Older generations are now forced to learn how technologies work and to become more comfortable spending more time than usual online.
According to a recent Kaspersky survey, 46% of people who are aged 55 or over in South Africa do not take any special measures to protect themselves online.
This can lead to their details being stolen or revealed to third parties. Older generations may find it difficult to distinguish between genuine deals and scams created by those trying to exploit them.
To help your elderly relatives stay protected online during the Coronavirus lockdown, Kaspersky recommends taking the following measures:
Use phone and video chats to help with technical support remotely.
Share details about websites where they can place food orders or find assistance on other important issues with them or consider helping them by logging into their accounts to support them. Be careful who you share your credentials with.
Explain that they should not use the same password for more than one website or service. Encourage the use of a password manager tool to make this easier.
Discuss the dangers of phishing and responding to links in unsolicited emails, social media and SMS messages, to help them avoid scams when banking and shopping online.
Install a reliable solution for a wide range of threats to guard family and private data.