What Is Cyber Flashing? 2024
Cyber Flashing is a new online phenomenon. Cyber experts have already warned parents about a rise in cyber flashing and its devastating impact on children and adults. It involves sending abusive and explicit images to friends and even strangers via iPhone by using its AirDrop feature.
AirDrop is one of many features available on iPhone. The feature creates a loophole to be easily and heavily exploited by children. Even if an Apple account is set up with iPhone by using your child’s DOB and the smartphone is set at default on a child-friendly level, it may create a huge problem.
According to some recent facts and figures, children are easy prey on the digital platforms as they are the most unsuspecting Internet users. They can easily be trapped by strangers and even known predators. A good number of cyber crimes involve cyber flashing that often targets children by sending them obscene and even porn images.
If settings are right, you can easily AirDrop to other iOS users if they are just 30 feet away. Children often share such photos between them and that makes the problem of cyber flashing a more menacing and wider threat for your kids.
What Is Cyber Flashing?
Cyber flashing, as previously mentioned, refers to a rising online phenomenon involving sending sexual messages over iPhone. You may be thinking about invasive nude images on Snapchat but the fact is, cyber flashing is a lot more complicated. Here is some more important information about cyber flashing:
- The naked and other obscene images, shared via AirDrop, are usually sent to people in busy public areas.
- The photos are sent to not only the children but also the adults.
- The content is sent anonymously. You or your child can see the content only when it is sent.
- The images are not censored when the preview pops up.
- iPhone users can easily personalize the images
Why Do You Need to Know about Cyber Flashing?
The birth of your child is probably the happiest moment in your life. He is the apple of your eye. You can do anything to save him from any kind of danger – online or offline –and play your part in building a rewarding career for him. But that ambition and planning can receive a heavy blow if your child falls prey to cyber flashing at a young age.
It is true that not all kids abuse AirDrop. Some kids send cute pics. But AirDrop is increasingly abused by kids to hurt their friends and even unknown kids. It is the context where cyber flashing and its devastating impact need an elaborate discussion.
- Imagine a scenario of your child going on a trip on a school bus. The AirDrop settings on your iPhone are at default. If any kid in the bus shares an obscene photo to all of the Apple smartphone users, your child will get to see the pic.
- Imagine another scenario. You and your daughter are visiting a book fair. Your AirDrop settings are set as “Everyone”. If some creep notices that your daughter is using an iPhone and he sends a pic, your teen will get cyber flashed. If the iPhone has her name, the person will get to know the name too. If he has not named his Apple smartphone, he can send more such photos anonymously.
- A group of young children may decide to create an offensive meme during their free time and pass it to everyone within 30 feet in their school canteen. With iPhone settings to “Everyone”, your kid will get the image and it’s an example of cyber flashing.
- Cyber flashing causes a horrible impact on your child’s mind. It can distract their attention, kill their innocence and even cause depression.
A doctor can treat disease only if its causes and symptoms are known. Therefore, understanding the problem and its effect will help you find a way out of the problem.
How to Disable Cyber Flashing?
Fortunately, it is very easy to disable AirDrop. Here is how you can do it:
- Tab Settings
- Enable Screen Time
- Hit Content & Privacy Restrictions
- Hit Allowed Apps
- Toggle off AirDrop
In addition to performing the above-stated apps, you also need to take some additional actions. The conversation is very important. Talk to your child about how AirDrop is exploited for wrong purposes. And you need to tell them what should do and what shouldn’t when they receiving any appropriate photo via AirDrop.
How iKeyMonitor Helps In Dealing with Cyber Flashing?
A parent plays the role of a friend, philosopher and guide in his child’s life. As a parent, you need to juggle many hats simultaneous and efficiently. Therefore, knowing how cyber flashing can harm your child will help you take some preventive measures to save them from falling prey to it. After all, precaution is better than cure! Here is how iKeyMonitor can help you in this regard.
- It spies on pictures and photos taken by camera and the captured screenshots saved in the photo album. The monitored pictures show you the mobile activities which cannot be logged by texts and voices.
- It allows you to limit the screen time on iPad/iPhone/Android by setting the maximum usage time for all applications. So you can control how much time your children spend on their devices.
- It enables you to monitor and control remotely via the control panel. You can not only turn iKeyMonitor on or off remotely, but also view the spying logs online.
With iKeyMonitor, you have more control over what your children read, send, and receive through their smartphones. This is an effective strategy to keep them safe from applications like AirDrop.
Tags: AirDrop is exploited for wrong purposes, cyber crimes, Cyber Flashing
Category: Learning & How to, Parental Control Tips