Security News > 2020 > September > Your latest security headache? Ed from accounting using his kid as an unpaid helpdesk

Parents are turning to their kids for tech support rather than the company IT department while working from home, we're told.

The "Social media advice" kids were giving out to their parents was valued at £519, or £16.22 per hour on the freelance market.

"The most sought-after IT support was social media advice," the consultants claimed, "With an estimated 32 hours spent by teens teaching their parents how to be social media savvy."

Specifically, Prolifics told us on Tuesday 71 per cent of the kids polled claimed their parents had asked them to solve work-related "Technical issues" with their computers and devices rather than go through their company's IT helpdesk when working from home, and 67 per cent alleged setting up a Skype or Zoom call on a parent's behalf.

On average the teens estimated they'd spent about 20 hours helping their parents with security and another 19 hours helping them navigate Excel and Word documents.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/09/23/teens_it_support_bill/