As I reflect on motherhood and Mother’s Day this month, I worry about the impact of technology and the risks it brings to my son as well as my aging parents. As Alex’s computer and phone app use has increased, so has the number of accounts with passwords he needs to create and track. I have found that he is overly trusting and has reused the same ID and password, fallen prey to online scams on kids, and more. The same holds true for my parents.
Try as I might, keeping ahead of Alex’s exploits and the risks they all face has been extremely difficult and obviously, not fully successful. Alex tends to use the password feature on his Apple phone to automatically store his passwords; and as a result, often has no idea that he has created a new account, reused the same password, or that either of these have been breached. Plus, this does not address any of his PC or other accounts. My parents’ password management could use improvement as well.
I strongly encourage everyone to be vigilant to online threats and get a password manager for your family that can be monitored and tracked. Happy Mother’s Day!
First published in our May 2024 IT Radix Resource newsletter