Share it !
Blocking, filtering and monitoring. These are 3 things you can do to get a head start. Educating your child of the dangers online also helps.
There are many tools available to help parents control and monitor where their children surf online. Some even help regulate how much time a child spends playing computer games, or prevent their accessing the Internet during certain preset times.
I've listed the type of protections that are available. But, most of the popular brands now offer all of these features, so you don't have to choose. Recently, given parents' concerns about strangers communicating with their children online, monitoring software has gained in popularity. Although it might have its place in protecting a troubled child, it feels more like "spyware" than child protection. But it's ultimately your choice as a parent. The newest trend is to use products supplied by your ISP called parental controls. AOL's parental controls were the first of these to be developed and used. MSN 8.0 launched the first set of parental controls for MSN.
Blocking Software
Blocking software is software that uses a "bad site" list. It blocks access to sites on that list. They may also have a "good site" list, which prevents your child from accessing any site not on that list. Some of the software companies allow you to customize the lists, by adding or removing sites from the lists. I recommend you only consider software that allows you to customize the list, and lets you know which sites are on the lists.
Filtering
Filtering software uses certain keywords to block sites or sections of sites on-the-fly. Since there is no way any product can keep up with all the sites online, this can help block all the sites which haven't yet been reviewed. The software blocks sites containing these keywords, alone or in context with other keywords. Some companies allow you to select certain types of sites to block, such as those relating to sex, drugs or hate. This feature engages special lists of keywords that match that category. As with the "bad site" lists, the lists of keywords used by the filtering software should be customizable by the parent, and every parent should be able to see which terms are filtered.
Outgoing Filtering
No...this doesn't mean your software had a sparkling personality :-) (that's cyberspace talk for "grin" and means you're supposed to smile at my brilliant humor. It means that your child won't be able to share certain personal information with others online. Information such as your child's name, address or telephone number can be programmed into the software, and every time they try to send it to someone online, it merely shows up as "XXXs." Even with kids who know and follow your rules, this is a terrific feature, since sometimes, even the most well-intentioned kids forget the rules.
Monitoring and Tracking
Some software allows parents to track where their children go online, how much time they spend online, how much time they spend on the computer (such as when they are playing games) and even allows parents to control what times of day their children can use the computer. This is particularly helpful when both parents are working outside of the home, or with working single-parents, who want to make sure their children aren't spending all of their time on the computer. Many parents who don't like the thought of filtering or blocking, especially with older children and teens, find monitoring and tracking satisfy their safety concerns. They can know, for sure, whether their children are following their rules.
We particularly recommend using a monitoring software and then forgetting it's installed. Think of it as the security video camera in the corner of the bank. No one views the tapes until the bank is robbed. If something bad happens, you can play back the monitoring log and see exactly what occurred, and who said what, and in dire situations, where your child went to meet an adult offline. There is a company out there called Spectorsoft.com, their products can monitor all instant messaging platforms, which is key to keeping your children safe online.
Parents have to remember, though, that these tools are not cyber-babysitters. They are just another safety tool, like a seat belt or child safety caps. They are not a substitute for good parenting. You have to teach your children to be aware and careful in cyberspace. Even if you use every technology protection available, unless your children know what to expect and how to react when they run into something undesirable online, they are at risk. Arming them well means teaching them well.
For more information go here http://parentsonline.ning.com
The use of web applications from doing the most basic things like checking emails to social networking makes the internet as a whole a prime target for malicious viruses and cyber crimes.
As surprising as it may seem, it is estimated that the majority of the PCs get infected because of clicking on a nasty website address as compared to viruses residing on a local computer.
Here are four ways in which online computing can be made safer:
1. Avoid use of public or shared computers for sensitive information: This can seem a bit difficult at times but it is well worth it to avoid public or shared computers for checking the online bank balance, authorizing payments or even conducting online money transfers. This is because you never know what kind of software (like hidden key loggers that can record every keystroke made on the system, invisible remote viewers and so on are installed on the computer). This may sound scary because it is especially when you yourself aren't the owner of a system that you are using.
2. Lock down online profiles: Major social networking sites like Facebook may seem a good place to meet new friends and establish contacts but they are also a major source of personal information for the cyber criminals. Even displaying your full date of birth on the profile with your picture and email address may result in a case of identity theft or hacking attempts on your email accounts as many of them have a secret question as date of birth. Besides this, it is best to keep friend's list to a minimum and possibly add only those who you know in real life. Even then, share your personal details very carefully.
3. Use separate email accounts: As simple as this may seem, you will be surprised at the amount of spam that is cut down plus the added benefit of separating work and personal correspondence. For unknown sites that ask your email address for registration purposes only, provide a separate account for that use only. This will also avoid clutter in your personal email inbox.
4. Keep antivirus and firewall applications updated: Using only an antivirus application is not sufficient. Firewall blocks unauthorized connections to your computer and thwarts possible hacking attempts. Free antivirus applications like AVG and Avast are effective and easy to use. Free firewalls like ZoneAlarm are sufficient for home computers. The default Windows firewall also does a good job though.
As you can see, it isn't difficult to stay secure online provided a bit of discretion is used when using the internet. It is a fun and productive place to be for majority of the time.
Cheers.
The author is a tech enthusiast, systems administrator and a computer geek who got his first computer back in 1994 and fell in love with it. He blogs at ihaveapc.com regarding various stuff related to Windows and Linux.
Filed under: Social Networking, Video Gaming
Safer Internet is today – it is organized by INSAFE in February to promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially among children and young people across the world.This year, the focus is on virtual lives. Today young people spend a good part of their lives on activities ranging from online gaming to social networking. In doing so they face multiple challenges related to their privacy, reputation and health. ‧ Gamers spend on average 8 hours weekly playing online.‧ Young people sleep 2 to 3 hours less per night than 10 years ago.‧ In January 2010, 18 million accounts were registered on Second Life.‧ Facebook reports more than 500 million active users.‧ Users spend 700 billion minutes on Facebook each month.‧ 13 million players in World of Warcraft (WoW), world's largest massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).‧ MMORPGs generated $1.5 billion in subscription revenues worldwide in 2008,forecast to reach $2.5 billion by 2012.‧ Up to 250,000 players are simultaneously online on WoW.‧ Transactions and sales of virtual goods in virtual worlds were estimated at $18 billion in 2009.*Sources: Facebook, Second Life, TDG, Strategy Analytics Here are some key messages to consider:‧ Hiding behind your avatar, pseudo or profile page will not shield you.‧ Your actions in your virtual life can impact on your real life.‧ Monitor your playing activities: a balance between online and offline is important.‧ Look for virtual worlds that don't encourage consumerism.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use
or
tags.
