Thursday, October 29, 2009

Children Should Be Aware Of Internet Theft

Internet theft should concern everyone but especially those that are the parent of a child who uses the internet or will soon. The internet is a fantastic way to learn the latest news, do research for school projects and communicate with friends but it can also be a very dangerous place.

It is the parents responsibility to make sure that a child visits safe areas on the internet. A child should never know more about the internet than the parent does. You should at the least know about the same.

If you attempt to block adult themed websites that have offensive material, it would not be good if your child knows how to get around the parental block. That is why it is important that you know how to use a computer and the internet.

Another good reason why you should have knowledge of the internet and computer use is because you are better able to fully understand the dangers of the internet. You may hear that an internet predator approached a child on the news. You may assume that will never happen to your child, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

A child on the internet can be very vulnerable, playing a game or researching a paper online. A common mistake would be your child accidentally stumbling into a porn site, getting into malicious web pages that infect your computer, mistakenly deleting your own computer's files.

Mistakes like these can happen and your child may not be aware of them. If they do happen you may not be told for fear of punishment.

There are some activities that you can do with your children that will in effect allow you to supervise their actions online. If that is not possible, you can always monitor their computer use. Which sites they visit, the activities they do online. If they use chat rooms and e-mails, pay attention to who they are corresponding with and how well they seem to know them.

Children should be aware of the dangers online. They should be able to recognize suspicious behavior or activities on the internet. Knowledge is truly the best defense. This will help you and the child set boundaries for their computer use. Hopefully you will be able to avoid any type of internet theft with the proper knowledge.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Tactics To Avoid Cyber Identity Theft

Cyber identity theft is a very real concern but it is really not that difficult. Knowledge is the best defense against cyber attacks. Once you start to use safe tactics online it will become second nature to you.

With the rising cost of gasoline people are doing their shopping at home online. Shopping in stores takes a certain security mind set but so does shopping at home on the internet. There is an old saying "follow the money" Scammers are taking that to heart.

When you engage in online shopping you are relived from the stress of standing in line and dealing with other rude customers. Sometimes the employees are not in a great mood either. A person can stay in the comfort of their own home and accomplish shopping with just a few clicks of a mouse.

One way to discourage thieves is through proper education. Make sure that your firewall is current and up to date. It is the best way to protect your computer from the outside world. A properly maintained firewall will filter data from the outside world.

A lot of people use one password for everything. It is best to have a different password for every account but it is strongly recommended to have a separate password for online banking and anything else that may involve money.

E-mails are another area where scammers are able to get in. You should never open an e-mail unless you are familiar with the person that sent it. Banks and other financial institutions will never ask for login information through an e-mail.

There are also activities that you can do with children and other family members that will allow you to supervise their use of the internet. If this is not possible to monitor them on a one on one basis you can supervise their activity on the net later. The sites that they like to visit online such as gaming or chat sites. It is important to know if they actually know the people that they come in contact with.

This will help you to set limits to their online use. The sites that they visit should be age appropriate of course. It is not necessary to scare but instill in them a sense of awareness when they are on the net. This includes sites they are allowed to visit.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Tactics For Internet Safety For Kids

The internet can be a very useful tool, it has everything from games to learning experiences. Children are very eager to get online. They succumb to peer pressure at school to have the internet at home.

Parents usually give in because the internet is a very powerful learning tool. Homework and research projects can be accomplished very easily with the help of internet resources. Because children are very trusting by nature, they tend to fall prey to the traps and dangers of online crimes.

The best thing for a parent of a child who is on the internet to do is to be assertive in instituting online safety measures. The number of crimes against children online is on the rise. A parent should be protective to ensure that a child does does not fall victim to internet predators.

There are many cyber crimes that target young children. Many of these offense's are a crimes that took the form of online technology.

It is hard to believe but kidnapping is a major problem. Many believe that sort of crime just cannot happen over the internet. It starts off innocently enough the criminal befriends the child over the internet. The child is then lured to a remote location where an abduction can occur.

Some other forms of online crime are child pornography, identity theft and online harassment. Unfortunately the web is full of images that children should not be allowed to see. Unguided a child might accidentally view these sites.

When a young child sees pornography or violent materials over the web his or her mind is slowly being polluted. The concept of life and it's importance could be influenced. They could be introduced to concepts at a very young age. Make their time online safe from cyber identity theft and as enjoyable as possible.

Cyber Identity Theft

The web is a strong tool, in the old days a person would have to go to the library to do most research or locate information about a specific topic. With a computer and the net now in homes that information is now just a click away.

The internet can also be a dangerous place. Viruses can be mass produced and spread around the globe, especially to countries with low computer security. It can be used to gain access to banking knowledge taking money from the owner. It can be a source of activity that is not appropriate for young people such as pornography, lewd acts, cursing and crime.

The internet is not a good place for children to be nosing around in. It is a great idea for parents to teach their children about the dangers of the internet. A child that happens upon a website that is not appropriate may have their life's changed forever.

By teaching children properly you are ensuring the safety of the entire family as well as their own. Any information that a child shares over the internet can endanger the entire family. Teach your children never to give out personal information, even it is just a phone number, a location, or even a name.

Teach your children never to give out passwords to anyone, even close friends. Having a password makes it much easier for criminals to get what they want without the risk of getting caught. A close friend might have a slip of the tongue and give out the password to the wrong person.

Cursing and other rude behavior should not be permitted over the internet. Obviously anything that is put out on the internet is out there forever. You never know if the person that the ill feelings are directed at may be a computer whiz, and you may become the object of ill will which could endanger your computer and data.

Allow your children to have fun at the same time restricting them. Allowing them to have total freedom on the internet will usually result in trouble as they are mostly innocent and unsuspecting of those who seek to prey on children.

Place security restrictions on the internet browser. The computer should be placed in a common area, not in the child's private room. You will need to check in on the child from time to time, for their own protection. Teach your children the proper ways to avoid cyber identity theft. Try to make their time online as safe and enjoyable as it can be.