The Anti-virus Times

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Children look for ways to bypass parental control, either intentionally or accidentally, and parents have to understand this issue thoroughly. On the one hand, it is nice that our children are inventive and smart. On the other hand, this is an alarming trend because the digital environment is sometimes unsafe even for adults, and this cannot be ignored or allowed to run its course.

In any case, children are growing up in a digital world, and our task is to explain to them how to use their gadgets in moderation, and in a way that is useful and safe.

Doctor Web is devoting this article to all the parents who want to keep their finger on the pulse and protect their children from traumatic content, and also save their eyesight and their sleep.

How children do this

Opinions differ on forums: children share functional schemes on how to bypass parental control, and parents call for negotiations. The bottom line is that apart from the easiest ways—turning on aeroplane mode, creating a new profile, or cleverly figuring out a parent’s password—advanced ways also exist. We need to acknowledge that children are actively evolving in everything related to digital technologies.

Twenty years ago, parents negotiated with children who did not have a personal "guard" in the digital world. Now parents are so anxious about their children's mental health that protection at the content-filtering and limit-setting level is now needed.

And, since that’s the case, a solution will be found. Let's take a look at the technical methods that children can use to bypass established restrictions, and find out how parents can be more cunning.

Using mobile data or guest networks

Complexity level 1

If parental control is set only on Wi-Fi, a child can use mobile or guest networks to bypass restrictions. This allows them to bypass any blocks set for the home network since mobile or neighbourhood Internet traffic will no longer pass through the specified filters.

How it works

Mobile data is often not protected by the same filters as home Wi-Fi, so children can use it to access blocked sites without their parents' knowledge.

What should parents do?

In this case, restricting mobile data usage will work. Set up mobile device tariffs so that they limit the use of mobile Internet. It will also a good idea to use applications to monitor mobile Internet usage and to use parental control applications to set data-usage limits and restrict the categories of sites that can be visited.

VPN services

Complexity level 2

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is like an invisible road along which your Internet traffic can bypass checkpoints.

How it works

VPN encrypts internet traffic and masks the user's IP address, making it difficult to track activity and filter content. Changing the IP address allows children to connect to servers in different countries, which helps them bypass regional (e.g., parental) blocks and restrictions.

What should parents do?

Try blocking the VPN at the router level. Some routers have built-in features to detect and block VPN traffic. To do this, you will have to log in to the administrative panel — you can usually do this through a web browser by entering the router's IP address. Next, look for the section with security or content-filtering settings. It allows you to block specific sites, IP addresses or ports, and most importantly, well-known VPN servers.

To analyse traffic and notice that something is wrong in time, configure the router to send you notifications about suspicious activity or changes in the network settings. Periodically check reports and notifications to be aware of any attempts made to bypass the blocks you’ve put in place.

Modification of system settings

Complexity level 3

This is a process whereby children change the settings on their devices to bypass restrictions. For example, they can disable parental control or change app and Internet settings.

How it works

If children have access to the administrative settings, they can disable or change the parental control settings. Sometimes they can simply reset their device to the factory settings.

What should parents do?

First, you should set strong passwords for accessing system settings and administrative functions. If your children use a computer, create a separate account and do not allow them to work through an account that has administrator rights. This will lower the chance of your child installing any application like a proxy or VPN without your permission. Access to administrative functions can also be blocked in the system policies, but this requires a very good understanding of the settings or the assistance of specialists. So, a restricted account is the minimum requirement.

Enable two-factor authentication for your mobile devices and tablets.

Children talk online about how their parents often set very weak passwords, have no Face ID or Touch ID authentication, and sometimes hide passwords written on paper in places where they're easily accessible.

Periodically check the device settings to make sure they have not been changed without your knowledge.

Using proxy servers

Complexity level 4

A proxy server is like an intermediary between a device and the Internet. It operates in a similar way to VPN, but it does not encrypt traffic. It redirects the traffic through another server. That is to say that it accepts and changes requests to access sites, which helps users bypass filters and blocks.

How it works

A proxy server can hide a real user's IP address, which makes it difficult to track. This is called traffic anonymisation, and it can be used to bypass blocks: parental control will consider the requests as coming from a proxy server, not from a child's device.

If you suspect that a proxy is being used, you can check a device’s current IP address. This is done through special websites. If the IP address is different from what is usually used, this may denote that a proxy server is involved.

What should parents do?

Block proxy servers using parental control applications at the router settings level (as you would with VPN); for this you will need to use the content-filtering feature. In the parental control administrative panel, find the section where URLs or domains can be added to the block list, and add the known proxy domains.

Applications can also use proxy servers. Similarly, it is enough to add them to the block list.

To make sure everything is working, check the reports on the websites that have been visited and, if possible, set up alerts so that you get notified about attempts to bypass the restrictions.

Changing DNS servers

Complexity level 5

DNS (the Domain Name System) is like an Internet phonebook. It transforms the alphabetic addresses of websites into IP addresses. Many parental control programs block access to dangerous sites by relying on standard DNS servers. However, children can change the DNS settings on their devices and use public or alternative DNS servers that do not block content.

How it works

By editing records. Changing DNS servers allows content blocks to be bypassed because requests are directed to other servers.

What should parents do?

Set strict DNS settings on your router to prevent the DNS servers on your children’s devices from being changed. Or use DNS filters if your parental control solution allows it.