Overview
This whitepaper, in its fourth year, reflects Javelin Strategy & Research’s strong desire to educate the industry and public about the cyber and social risks today’s youth increasingly face. To that end, Javelin continues to publish its findings involving child identity theft and risk and makes them open to the public so consumers, parents, educators, financial institutions, law enforcement, and others can access Javelin’s data and recommendations for thwarting child identity theft. This year, Javelin collaborated with the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to minimizing risk and mitigating the impact of identity compromise, to bring more awareness to the particular identity risks children face.
Unlike identity threats involving adults, children’s risks are often linked to socioeconomic status and vulnerability. Javelin’s research finds that children from more affluent households are at greater risk of being targeted and compromised by cybercriminals. That is, in part, because children from higher-income households have greater access to social media and other online accounts across multiple devices, as well as their access to payment cards, mobile accounts, online gaming, and other e-commerce accounts that cybercriminals value. But on the opposite side of the coin, Javelin and the ITRC find that society’s most vulnerable children, those in foster care, are ideal candidates for exploitation by cybercriminals. Thwarting identity risks faced by these at-risk youths is a perplexing challenge, as foster children rarely have advocates or financial institutions to which to turn for support and protection. The ITRC is working to bring more attention to the risks this vulnerable segment of the population faces and define why the compromise of children’s identities is a business issue financial services must face.
Javelin’s 2024 Child & Family Cybersecurity Study, Social Media and Children: A Dangerous Game of Trust and Deceit, examines the increasing risk social media poses for children and teens and details how the links among identity theft, fraud, and social media have become increasingly obvious, as supported by Javelin’s ongoing research. This annual whitepaper outlines steps financial services providers and others must take to educate and support parents and guardians by providing more direct provisions aimed at protecting children’s online identities.
