Scottish Mum

Sponsored Review & Giveaway: BullGuard Identity Protection. Ends 20th Dec 2013

It’s interesting that Antivirus company BullGuard had added a Protection Product that not only covers devices, but also covers the people as well.  It seems to be a shift over just protecting what we use to get online and moving to also helping keep us safe with our whole persona online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fCM9vkjskY&feature=youtu.be

The video explains that to help protect our identities, the service also checks the “dark web” to see if our personal information, credit cards, driving licenses, login details and much more have been shared.  If BullGuard finds our information being shared, they let us know by e-mail and we can log onto the dashboard at any time to see the status.

BullGuard says that one in five parents are shocked by content on their children’s email, text or Facebook account.  I know I was in the realms of traumatised when I first began to be aware.  I’ve learned there is no point thinking my kids wouldn’t do or say things I’d not like them to, but it isn’t just about what our kids say, but also about what other people say or do to them.

What Do I Think?

The Facebook issue is a huge one in our family and with the profiles of children now being public instead of being allowed to be hidden, this software appeals to me greatly.  I’m glad I agreed to try it as Facebook worries me a lot.

Inside the box, there is an instruction card which holds the license key number on it and a pen.  Following the instructions seemed to go fine until I hit the stage where it said to refresh to show the Identity Protection and Social Media Protection tabs. I did that and it told me my licence key had already been activated and I couldn’t see the tabs.   It was simply a case of going to “my account” to see my options so it wasn’t a big deal, but it might happen to others as well.

Social Media Protection

To use this, we enter the kids names and birth dates and we can either send our children an e-mail for them to install it themselves, or if we have their account details and passwords, we can add the code manually.  It sends an e-mail to them to get their account linked up.  I did hit a problem though.  When I added the application to their accounts, it first showed up as an error and I had to contact BullGuard to sort it out, which was quickly done.

It flags up:

I quickly noticed that the suspicious friends includes people who request access who have a significant age difference being flagged up quickly.  A malicious link was flagged up within the first hour of being live and I could see the chain of interactions that were good to talk to my boys about.

Seeing a malicious link flagged up allowed me to have a conversation with my eldest about not clicking it and seeing if the friend who posted it was actually someone he should be friends with.  It’s not too intrusive, with only a small icon in the application section of their Facebook and they can also see what has been flagged up for themselves too.

I’d have to say that I like the Protection Suite and it saves me having to keep checking their profiles or logging into their accounts.

What does BullGuard say?

TOP 10 WAYS THAT PARENTS SNOOP

1.            Reading messages on social networking sites
2.            Checking their internet history
3.            Reading their text messages
4.            Monitoring their list of friends on social networking sites
5.            Checking their pictures on social networking sites
6.            Reading their emails
7.            Checking their call list
8.            Finding out their passwords
9.            Asking teachers to keep an eye on their internet use
10.          Getting a sibling to help to snoop

 London, 24th October 2013:

One in five parents have been ‘shocked’ by content they have discovered on their children’s email, text or Facebook account, a study by internet and mobile security firm BullGuard has revealed.

Alex Balan, Head of Product Management at BullGuard added: ”It’s a minefield for parents, whilst you want your children to have freedom and make friends you want to ensure they are safe when they are online. And this is where BullGuard Identity Protection can help. It’s hard enough watching your children 24/7 in the real world, but keeping tabs on their movements online is the real challenge. BullGuard’s Identity Protection offers Facebook protection for parents concerned about what their children are being exposed to such as cyber bullying, social predators or inappropriate content. It provides unobtrusive parental controls that permit parents to keep a discreet eye on their kid’s Facebook activities, so they can go back to just worrying about them in the real world.”

Giveaway

The Protection Suite is £34.95, and I have 5 codes to access it as a giveaway.  I also have a 25% discount link for those who don’t win or can’t wait and would like to buy it anyway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be drawn by random generator on the 21st December 2013. The competition closes at midnight on the 20th December 2013.

The Rules

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