- Written by
- Remaleh Cyber Safety Team
- Reviewed by
- Remaleh Cyber Safety Team Practical Cyber Safety guidance and response
- Last reviewed
Family online protection works best when it covers the choices people make every day, not only the devices they own.
A family can have strong software and still be exposed. An old recovery email. A public social profile. A smart camera with a default password. A rushed payment request. A child moving a chat to a private app. Any one of those can open the door.
Account takeover losses topped US$15 billion in 2025, and stolen logins grew 160% in the same year. Strong family online protection now means looking past devices and getting accounts right.
Build family online protection around four areas
- Accounts: email, banking, app stores, school platforms, cloud storage, social media, and phone providers.
- Devices: phones, tablets, laptops, routers, smart TVs, cameras, speakers, doorbells, and gaming consoles.
- People: kids, parents, grandparents, carers, and anyone who helps manage accounts.
- Decisions: links, messages, payment requests, unknown contacts, privacy choices, downloads, and recovery steps.
Each area needs one clear rule. No one shares one-time codes with a caller. Kids can ask about strange messages without getting in trouble. Payment requests get checked through a known phone number or app.
A family online protection plan should make asking for help easier before a small risk becomes a bigger one.
- Remaleh Cyber Safety guidance
Update the plan when family life changes
Update the plan when someone gets a new phone, starts school, joins a new game, moves house, adds smart devices, travels, separates, or starts helping an older relative with accounts.
The goal is not to make online life rigid. It is to leave just enough structure that everyone knows when to pause, what to check, and who can help.
Build the plan around four areas
- Accounts: email, banking, cloud, app stores, social media, school accounts, and password manager access.
- Devices: phones, tablets, laptops, routers, cameras, speakers, consoles, TVs, and smart home controls.
- Kids: unknown contacts, game chats, social apps, privacy settings, purchases, photos, and reporting.
- Decisions: the family rule for urgent messages, secret requests, payment pressure, codes, and suspicious links.
Source: Australian Cyber Security Centre , eSafety Commissioner
The plan should be simple enough to use when someone is rushed. If a message asks for secrecy, codes, money, photos, or a move to another app, the family rule is to pause and ask before replying.
Source: eSafety Commissioner
Write the rule where children and adults can find it. The goal is not to make every person an expert; it is to make the first reaction predictable when an unusual message, new contact, device alert, or payment request appears.
