Internet Safety News

Internet Safety For Teenagers

Paul Bannister — Fri, 21 May 2010 09:23:07 +0000

Internet safety for teenagers is a subject of concern for many parents today. It is true that the Internet is overall a terrific resource for teens, as it is an excellent research tool for homework. Furthermore, it provides a great way for teens to keep in touch with friends and relatives. On the other hand, parents have a lot to be concerned about regarding their teenagers’ use of the Internet, as teens are more susceptible to scams and dangers that are prevalent online.

Online predators, pornographic material, and the potential to download material with viruses on it are all threats facing teens on the Internet. Fortunately, there is much that parents can do to address these threats. This includes placing parental controls on computers and encouraging the safety of email; chat rooms and instant messengers; social networking sites; and blogs.

To begin, it is imperative that parents place parental controls on computers. This implies that parents download software on their computers that figures out which programs that their children can view. There are many free versions of such software available.

Next, encouraging the safety of email is a must for parents who wish to shield their children from online problems. Parents should prevent their teens from opening spam mail, and teens should also be encouraged to not open any file whose origin they are not aware of. This is since a single file that looks legitimate can contain viruses that will knock out every last bit of important information, including work-related documents and precious photos, from a computer.

Encouraging chat room and instant messenger safety is also critical to ensuring that teens have an overall safe experience on the Internet. Chat rooms and instant messengers operate on the basis of anonymity, and it must be stressed to teens that they should not reveal any parts of their names, social security numbers, addresses, birth dates, and more within these forums. Their screen names should be as generic as possible, as online predators who seek naive and vulnerable teens unfortunately are present in great quantities on the Internet.

Encouraging safe practices for teens on social networking sites is yet another action that must be taken to ensure that teens are kept safe on the Internet. While the onset of social networking sites has been accompanied by many positive stories of friends and relatives being reunited and/or being able to keep in touch on an almost daily basis, some social ills have unfortunately accompanied the sites. This is not to be unexpected, for as great as the social networking media outlets are, they have millions of users, a small percentage of which consists of online predators. To steer clear of threatening individuals, teens are urged to use the solid privacy function features prevalent on all of the major social media sites. These features ensure that only the teens’ family and friends can view their pages. Teens are also highly discouraged from friending people who they do not know or who they have never met before.

Last but not least, blog safety is encouraged for teens. Blogs are sites where teens can post their thoughts, and just like social networking sites, they provide a great forum from which teens can keep in touch with their family and friends. Nonetheless, just as in the case of chat rooms and instant messengers, teens need to be as anonymous as possible when they post in blogs to discourage any online predators from getting in contact with them.

In conclusion, the Internet is an excellent educational and social resource for teens. Nonetheless, many dangers are to be found on the Internet, and parents need to take charge to ensure that their teens have a safe online experience. The actions that they could take towards Internet safety include but are not limited to placing parental controls on computers and encouraging the safety of email; chat rooms and instant messengers; social networking sites; and blogs.

Kids are searching for Porn!

Paul Bannister — Fri, 21 May 2010 08:55:29 +0000

I read today on the BBC that Symantec have surveyed their users have found that in the top 10 searches conducted online Porn is at number 6. Well that might not surprise you if the survey was about general Internet use, but in fact the survey was purely focused on children.
The full list looks like this:

YouTube – (No Surprise there)
Google
Facebook
Sex
MySpace
Porn
Yahoo
Michael Jackson
Fred (YouTube celebrity)
eBay

If you don’t feel confident with protecting your kids online or need to know the risks together with a clear action plan of what todo about – then get 101 safety tips for kids.

Are You Secure Online? – Internet Safety Software

Paul Bannister — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:22:59 +0000

The world in which we are living right now is a world of information technology. If you are a business man then you need to get your business on the internet not only to better communicate with your clients but also to avail better e-commerce services. The web has provided us with a lot of facilities but with a lot of facilities and easy interactions with each other, risk factor has also increased over the last few years. Often we question whether we are actually safe when we are online and if not then what can we do to ensure internet safety.

Well a simple answer to this is that you can use good software which provides state of the art services so that you can be safe online while doing business and if your children are using internet, you can ensure they are safe and are secure from adult sites. Here is some advice and information about software which can increase your safety.

Kaspersky Internet Security: this is an all in one tool for your computer. The best feature that this software offers is that you are completely secure when you are surfing the internet. It has great capability to detect and protect you from spyware and viruses etc. Firewall services are very good with its firewall services you can easily limit your internet access. It can automatically detect dangerous sites and those sites which contain adult material so that you and your children are secure online. Its parental control is very good.

BitDefender Internet Security: this is one of the highest rated software which you can use for your security online as well as for your children’s safety. With its parental control you can set up individualized restrictions for each child. You can also get email alerts for each child.

Norton Internet Security: perhaps one of the most famous security software which a lot of people have confidence in. The main features of this product are: parental control, gaming and movie view modes supported, privacy and identity theft features, password protection tools.

ESET Smart Security: This product is the complete package. It includes all important features which are required to protect from online risks and viruses. Some important features are: NOD 32 Antivirus software, protections from auto run protocols, restricts annoying pop-ups during games and video play. It also has important parental controls again to prevent your children accidentally stumbling upon adult sites.

AVG Internet Security: This is a popular free software. This is not as good as other versions however it is an above average security software for your online security. It has some good features which can help you to surf internet with safety and shares many of the same features as leading software.

More and more people are surfing the web now and it is essential to make sure that you are safe. Internet safety for you and your children is a must. Before you pay out for any software ensure they are well reviewed. You want the best product.

Cyberbullying: How to to keep your child safe

Paul Bannister — Mon, 10 May 2010 11:53:43 +0000

Cyberbullying – or bullying electronically with cellphones and computers – is usually a different threat to your children – and its harder and more difficult to stop than normal bullying. Understanding and identifying the signs will aid you to keep your kid risk-free.

What’s distinct with cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is unique to other forms of bullying since:

It can may be unintentional – men and women may perhaps not consider the consequences of sending messages or images
The audience towards the bullying is usually big and expands very swiftly and very easily if messages are passed around or points are posted on the web.
It can occur at anytime, anywhere – the victim can even obtain bullying messages or materials at home.

Types of Cyberbullying

The most typical ways of cyberbullying are through:

Identity theft – in several cyber environments fake profiles might be set up pretending to be an individual with the aim of bullying others.
Chat rooms, blogs and forums – although numerous of these are moderated, persons involved in discussions is usually sent abusive responses.
Picture and video clip messaging – offensive images may be sent to mobile phones.
Abusive or prank phonecalls – these may be created in your child’s mobile cellular phone.
Text or SMS messaging – abusive and threatening texts could be sent to cellphones.
E-mail – new addresses may be set up in minutes and utilised to send offensive messages and images.
Social networking and individual sites (like Facebook or MySpace) – offensive or humiliating messages and pictures is usually posted on these web-sites.
Webcams – generally employed to view one another when chatting on the internet, kids can also be sent abusive images or encouraged to act in an inappropriate way while being filmed.
Instant message services – quicker than e mail, these permit users to have ‘real time’ conversations, and offensive messages or content may be sent in this way.Gaming internet sites, consoles and virtual worlds – chatting is possible within quite a few games, and name calling, abusive remarks and picking on specific players can occur.
Video hosting web sites like Viddler or YouTube – kids may uncover themselves being the subject of films being shown or be exposed to pornographic illustrations, videos or photos.

Protecting your kids from cyberbullying

As with other types of bullying it is essential for you to listen to your kids and react with sympathy. Your little ones need to know that bullying and especially this type of bullying is always wrong and that seeking help may be the right point to do. It is critical for them to learn to respect and look after their good friends on the net and how they would feel before they post or text.

To continue to keep them risk-free, make sure you:

Encourage them to talk to you about anything that’s upsetting them.
Watch out for them seeming distraught or down after using the web or their phone.
Try to realize the techniques in which they are applying their skills.
Ask them to consider how their actions affect other users and ensure that they only use moderated chat rooms.
Encourage them to show you any abusive or offensive emails or messages they’ve received and continue to keep a record of them and assist them in reporting any abuse to their school, the net service provider, the website moderator, the cellphone corporation or the police.
Tell them never to respond to any abusive messages or calls – as this is frequently what the abuser wants.
Discuss keeping their passwords safe and sound and avoiding giving their name, email address or cellular mobile phone number to men and women outside their circle of close friends and family.
Change email address or telephone quantity if the abuse continues.
Turn on in-built net safety features and install computer software program to ensure that you only obtain emails from folks you have chosen and to block unwanted illustrations or photos

There is more information available on cyberbullying on the government websites

“Teenage girl found sexually abused after meeting an online predator”

Paul Bannister — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:27:17 +0000

I hate reading these headlines…but look at the facts:

63% of teens said they know how to hide what they do from their parents.

48% Of Under 5’s Reported Viewing Online Content That Made Them Feel Uncomfortable.

Our kids are talking and meeting stalkers, paedophiles and predators online – AND they are being subjected to cyberbullying.

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