For the youngest: secure SIM cards for children will appear in Russia
Russia plans to create secure SIM cards for children. As the head of the Ministry of Finance, Maksut Shadaev, explained, these cards will have a set of restrictions that relate, for example, to registration on social networks. Izvestia found out what the innovation is for and how it will help protect children
Children's SIM cards
In Russia, they can create special secure SIM cards for children. This idea was proposed by the head of the Ministry of Finance Maksut Shadaev.
According to him, the ministry proposed introducing separate children's SIM cards, which will have certain traffic filtering tools configured by the parent.
"These SIM cards immediately have a set of certain secure restrictions," Shadaev said.
For example, the minister explained, such cards will not allow you to register on social networks where there are age restrictions. Parents of children and teenagers under the age of 14 will be able to buy the cards.
It is not yet known when such SIM cards will appear. Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Finance.
The position of the operators
Representatives of the operators interviewed by Izvestia noted that they have long been offering additional services in the form of parental controls and products with restrictions on visiting Internet pages. So, T2 has a special children's subscription that filters access to Internet resources.
MTS launched MTS Membrana Junior, a safe digital space service for children, last year. With it, parents can filter incoming calls to a child and block his access to some sites. The ML model developed by experts allows you to study each resource in real time for dangerous content for children.
— Over the past two months, the number of users of the service has increased by 70%. We attribute the high interest in the service to increased threats in the digital environment, such as cyberbullying, an increase in the number of banned online resources, and fraud," the operator's press service noted.
Children's tariffs allow you to connect the Defender service for free to protect children from spam and calls from scammers and unwanted content, as well as the MTS service.Geopoisk". It will help you find out the child's location and quickly start a search if he stops contacting you.
MegaFon also offers a child protection tariff, where options are available to protect against accidental connection of subscriptions, restrictions on receiving advertising messages and calls, the use of entertainment services and mobile transfers. In addition, the tariff includes the blocking of unwanted content, such as sites of the "18+" category.
At the same time, representatives of the operator noted that they support the idea of the Ministry of Finance to sell special SIM cards for children.
— In the future, it is possible to create a database based on the numbers of such SIM cards based on existing state information systems. This database will be able to become a single source for all Internet services," the operator's press service noted.
Mobile threats
Cybersecurity experts interviewed by Izvestia also believe that secure SIM cards will help protect children and their parents. Today, millions of Russians suffer from scammers and cybercriminals: teenagers fall for standard phishing tricks (in the worst cases, they are persuaded to leave home, commit crimes, become accomplices in terrorist attacks), and their parents receive provocative messages related to blackmail.
— In cases where the victim is a child, gifts can be a trick. In an SMS or messenger, a fraudster can notify the victim of winning a valuable prize, to receive which you need to click on the link and enter personal information or send a "contribution" through the parents' banking application. This way, even more victims are woven into the chain," says Irina Dmitrieva, an analytical engineer at Gazinformservice.
According to her, if a child's phone number is stolen (this is done using phishing), criminals can also contact the parents under the guise of kidnappers and demand a ransom. Such situations sometimes result in search activities and the initiation of criminal cases.
Fraudsters can easily find children's numbers in open social media profiles through embedding in chat rooms and interest groups, through surveys and "prize contests" with modal windows, where they ask for the numbers and names of participants.
— They also use database leaks containing registration data of clients of online educational schools, courses, as well as gaming platforms and services. The list of clients often includes the numbers of students and players, respectively," says Dmitrieva.
The availability of rooms combined with openness and trustfulness turns children into ideal victims for criminals, concludes the Izvestia interlocutor. That is why it is important to protect them in all possible ways.
An important measure
According to lawyer Sean Betrozov, the proposed Russian Ministry of Finance in the form of a children's SIM card will help form a protective barrier for children. It will become problematic to register social networks, and a number of sites will be blocked using traffic filtering mechanisms.
— The main value of SIM cards is that they provide parents with a control tool that cannot be disabled or bypassed as easily as regular parental control applications. If the child knows the password for the device, they can delete the program, remove restrictions, or connect to unsafe resources through another browser. The filter on the SIM card is integrated into the communication service and works independently of the phone settings," the lawyer notes.
In addition, he adds, parents have the opportunity to centrally manage their child's access to the Internet. Through your personal account, you can block or allow certain sites, limit network hours, prohibit payment for subscriptions and purchases, and block calls to unknown numbers. This is especially important at an age when a child does not yet understand that every link, every word or number entered on the Internet can be used against him.
— When a child has a regular SIM card in his hands, it is enough for an attacker to send a link or message to involve him in this process. A child's SIM card reduces the number of such entry points. If access to anonymous messengers or social networks is prohibited, it becomes much more difficult for a fraudster to establish contact and develop correspondence," the expert notes.
As a result, the criminal scheme will collapse even at the stage of the first attempt at interaction simply for technical reasons. This means that there is a chance that there will be fewer victims among children and their parents, the Izvestia interlocutor concludes.
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