Protection Tips
Internet Child Safety
As most people know the internet can be an amazing resource and provide
hours of fun for kids, but there is a side to the internet that can be
worrying for any parent.
Chat rooms have been a main cause of concern for years, with adults posing
as young children and chatting to unsuspecting kids, and in extreme cases
trying to organize secret meetings with the child. Things are changing
slowly and a lot of chat rooms are starting to monitor their sites more
closely, but unfortunately not everyone is following suit.
Websites with explicit images are another problem that children may be
exposed to, a few of these websites have a warning on their homepage
alerting the user to the fact that the site contains this sort of material,
but unfortunately not all of them.
Another major worry for a parent is spam email containing explicit images,
most of this type of spam gets sent from countries where any type of law is
not easily enforced and therefore the culprits can go on sending, hopefully
one day we will see the end of this type of marketing but unfortunately at
the moment it is here to stay.
There are things that can be done to protect your children from this type of
exposure on the internet, and below we will cover a few of these things.
Child Security in Chat Rooms
Chat rooms have long been a favorite pastime on the internet for kids. They
can be great fun and the children can make some great new friends online.
The problem with chat rooms is that they are generally anonymous, so the
person that they are chatting to may not be who they say they are.
Unless you supervise your children whenever they are in a chat room then
controlling who they chat too can be a problem, although, there are some
general guidelines that your children can follow to make their online
chatting safer:
- Stay anonymous, they should use a nickname while online, and
never reveal their real name.
- Never tell anyone where they live, not even if they have been
chatting to the person for years.
- Never tell anyone what school they go to.
- Never give out phone numbers.
- Never agree to meet someone without a parent present, and
ensure the person they are going to meet knows a parent will be
accompanying them.
- Tell an adult if anything strange happens or anything is said
to them that makes them feel uncomfortable.
- Introduce yourself in the chat room to their online friends,
especially if your child wants to meet them.
Although these guidelines may seem fairly obvious, by ensuring that your
children follow them they can help remove some of the dangers.
Websites with unsuitable images
This can be fairly simple to guard against, there is software available
which can prevent your children from going to websites with this sort of
content (see Net Nanny below). Also when they are searching the internet
another measure is for them to use the safe search facility available
on most good search engines.
Spam email with explicit images
Spam email is one of the most annoying problems on the internet and with no
real solution in sight it will remain a problem for some time to come.
A lot of email providers offer spam protection, but unfortunately most are
not 100% reliable, one of the best defenses against this type of email is by
using specialized software (see Spam Shield below) that restricts access to
certain types of email, and by restricting any images that may be unsuitable
for your child.
Internet security and email filter
software
There are a few programs out there that can help keep the internet a safe,
usable resource for your children, as with most types of filters some work
and some don't.
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Copyright 2001-2008 helpwithpcs.com
Guard Against Online Fraud
1. Practice safe online shopping
- Register your credit card for added protection from fraudulent
purchases. Many major credit card companies now offer advanced purchase
protection processes, such as MasterCard's SecureCode and Verified by
Visa, for all online transactions when using their cards. This added
layer of protection requires the cardholder to enter a pre-registered
personal identification number (PIN) only the customers would know, at
time of purchase. This PIN number should never be shared with anyone.
- Avoid using public Internet cafes to conduct online transactions.
Kiosk workstations may contain malicious code, such as keystroke
loggers, to capture your username and password, and other sensitive
personal information.
- Access wireless access points with strong security and built-in
controls such as Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). These controls ensure
that sensitive data, including passwords, are encrypted on the wireless
network you are surfing.
- Look for "seal of approval" icons, and read the company's privacy
policy. Seals of approval provided by different authorities, such as
Verisign(TM) and WebTrust(TM), serve to verify that the web site adheres
to their stated privacy and/or security policies. If you have any
questions or concerns about its validity, consider contacting the
retailer directly by phone to clarify that the site is adequately
protected.
- If you suspect that your identity has been compromised, notify your
financial institution and request that the credit bureau (Equifax/TransUnion)
attach a fraud alert to your file. A fraud alert is a "red flag" on your
credit report which will identify you as a potential fraud victim to
credit grantors.
2. Practice good house-keeping
- Update the latest operating system patches, firewall, anti-virus and
anti-spyware software on your computer regularly and check that they are
running. Set your computer to automatically scan for and detect any
malicious programs (Trojan horses, spyware) planted by hackers wanting
you to disclose sensitive information or to misdirect you to a
fraudulent web site.
- Verify that your browser has the latest security upgrades (also known
as patches) and that it supports 128-bit encryption. This high
encryption level helps to prevent sensitive data from being accessed by
unauthorized people while transacting online. Consider upgrading the web
browser to the latest version, as it provides a better security level
and tools.
- Avoid opting for the "remember password and username" option. Despite
its convenience, your information will be stored for any and all future
users to access. On a public computer, avoid this option altogether.
3. Don't fall prey to online fraud activities
- Disregard emails requesting that you log in to a shopping/financial
web site, in order to update account information. Never click on web
site addresses sent via email. Unscrupulous individuals who attempt to
steal your personal data often use this technique, known as "phishing,"
to lure customers to bogus, look-alike web sites designed specifically
to collect as much of your personal information as possible.
- Never send your financial information, including credit card, chequing
account or social insurance numbers, via email. If you initiate a
transaction and want to provide your financial information through an
organization's web site, look for indicators that the site is secure,
such as a lock icon on the browser's status bar or a URL for a web site
that begins with "https:" (the "s" stands for secure). Fraud is
ever-more sophisticated, so vigilance here is key.
Copied from
Marketwatch.com 11/19/2008 Press Release
