Kaspersky Lab's latest parental control report shows how different children are around the world

Kaspersky Lab has issued its latest report about detections on computers used by children. Analysis shows that, on average, children around the world now communicate, play and access adult content via computers less than they did a year ago, but open websites with information about drugs, alcohol and tobacco more. The latter theme is of particular interest to children in North America, Oceania and Western Europe.

The report, covering the 12 months from May 2016 to April 2017, shows anonymized statistics from Kaspersky Lab solutions for Windows PCs and Macs with the Parental Control module switched on, and presents the share of visits or attempted visits to websites with potentially harmful content that fall under one of the seven most popular preset categories:

-Internet communication media; Alcohol, tobacco, narcotics; Computer games; Software, audio, video; E-commerce; Explicit language; Adult content.

Children opened communication websites (such as social media, messengers, or emails) in 61 percent of cases, compared to 67 percent in the previous 12 months (May 2015 to April 2016).

Games have fallen to nine percent from 11 percent, and adult websites now account for 1.2 percent instead of 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, visits to pages containing information about drugs, alcohol and tobacco now account for 14 percent of detections, though the figure was only nine percent during the previous reporting period. Interest in pages with software, audio and video has also increased: six percent vs. three percent.

"We're seeing a big shift in children's online activities from computers to mobile devices. Children now only use computers to visit websites that have no mobile app equivalent or that are easier to view on larger screens. This may explain why the share of communication websites opened on computers is falling, while the proportion of pages with 'Alcohol, tobacco, narcotics' content is growing. The decrease in the share of games doesn't mean children are playing computer games less; they tend to choose a few sites and stick to them, but can spend a lot of time playing them," says Anna Larkina, Web-content Analysis Expert at Kaspersky Lab.

The report also shows that the chattiest children live in the Arab world where 89 percent of detections were related to communication websites. North American kids use computers for this purpose least of all - just 28 percent of cases.

Sites about narcotics, alcohol and tobacco are most popular in North America (32 percent), Oceania (30 percent) and Western Europe (26 percent), while children from the Arab world are least likely to open these sites - just three percent of cases.

The computer games category follows the same pattern: it is most popular in North America (20 percent), Oceania (20 percent), Western Europe (18 percent) and least popular in the Arab world (two percent). Interestingly, the Far East stands out with the E-commerce category accounting for 13 percent of detections there, while the global average is just five percent. Kids in the Far East also use software and adult websites more than their counterparts in other regions.

The Kaspersky Total Security and Kaspersky Internet Security consumer solutions include a Parental Control module to help adults protect their children against online threats and block sites or apps with inappropriate content.

Kaspersky Lab also offers the Safe Kids solution that allows parents to monitor what their children do, see or search for online across all devices, including mobile devices, and to get useful advice on how to help children behave online safely.

14 categories of websites that can be blocked by Parental Control module in Kaspersky Lab's solutions: Adult content; Alcohol, tobacco, narcotics; Computer games; E-commerce; Explicit language; Gambling, lotteries, sweepstakes; HTTP query redirection; Internet communication media; Job search; News media; Religions, religious associations; Software, audio, video; Violence; Weapons, explosives, pyrotechnic.

The Far East region in the report includes China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.