ST. LOUIS - A new school year brings the potential for new cybersecurity threats targeting students.

“Thirteen is the new 16. Kids are getting online much sooner than they used to,” said Abhishek Karnik, Head of Threat Intelligence Research at McAfee.

With children accessing the internet sooner, Karnik stressed the importance of educating them early about the dangers lurking online.

“Certain risks associated with privacy (and) in some cases, cyberbullying is pretty prevalent online, and then it could be as general as just basic scams,” Karnik said.

Earlier this month, McAfee surveyed 8,600 parents in seven countries to learn more about how online threats impact kids and how parents are trying to protect them.

“With all the flavors of apps out there, with all the complicated settings out there, at least having an understanding of how to apply them and how to educate your child is equally important,” Karnik said.

Just 38% of parents surveyed said they are very confident their child can recognize and avoid online scams.

Twenty-two percent of parents said their child has been targeted by an online threat. And of the parents who reported that their child lost money to an online threat or scam, 77% lost more than $100.

Parents also expressed major concerns about AI being used to target or harm kids.

“A word of advice for parents is that in this new age, you know, be careful about what you post online. You know, always go with the assumption that the information that you post online can be used as a weapon against you in some cases,” Karnik said.

Karnik said parents need to be vigilant. He also stressed the importance for parents to communicate with their children about online activity and the dangers that exist.

“Children are pretty smart; if given the right direction, they will follow it, or at least subconsciously absorb that information and make the right decisions,” Karnik said.