5 Point Plan to Ensure Your Child's Online Safety

Here are five very basic and easy to implement ways in which you can protect your child from bad influences on the internet.

#1 - Internet Hours

Fix up a time in the day when your child can access the internet. Do not let your child access the internet during any other times of the day. However, be fair when you are doing this. The child should not feel like you are bossing on him/her or are being unreasonable or rude. It should be a fair game. The main reason behind this is - if your child develops a rebellious attitude, he/she is going to want to break the rules! This may in turn, make things get out of control. Also, decide on a time when you will be in the house. You need not pull up a chair and sit behind your child and monitor each and every page he/she visits. But the fact that you are around will prevent your child from being naughty. Also insist on leaving the door to your child's room ajar, if not completely open. Do not let him/her bolt the doors from inside the room.

#2 - Passwords

Make sure your computer is well protected. Put passwords on programs that you think are harmful for your child. You can even store games within password protected folders. Make sure you create a secure password. Passwords are a good way to keep your children out of stuff that you think is inappropriate for them. However, if you do create a password, make sure you know how to recover your data from an event of password hacking. Kids nowadays, know more than we can imagine! So keep yourself updated on the various hacking software, and make sure your child does not lay hands on any of them.

#3 - Parental Control

Block access to all those websites that may contain content - including the actual content on the website as well as advertisements of products and services - that you think is inappropriate for your child. Also, never edit the settings when you want to use the computer. You can access all the websites you want in other ways. Create different user profiles for the computer with different internet settings. Again, remember to protect the user profiles with suitable password.

#4 - Limit Purchases

Online shopping makes life a lot easy - with books, clothes and all sorts of things available online. You may want to purchase a few goods for your kids; a limited edition book, or a special edition CD or DVD of a movie, etc. Make all these purchases yourself. Do not reveal your PayPal details and credit card details to your kids. You will hence be able to keep a tab on what your kids buy online. Allowing your child to make individual purchases online could be twice as dangerous. Firstly, you do not know what they are purchasing and whether it is alright for them to purchase it or not. Second, you will not have any control over how much money your child spends online! This will include membership fees to websites, actual purchases, and a lot of other things.

#5 - Inculcate Responsibility

The best way to restrict your kids online is to make them responsible and to make them understand WHY they should not do certain things online. Gain their confidence. Do not simply lay down rules - make them understand why you are doing what you are doing. Kids nowadays, belong to the Y Generation - they always want to know why. This is not a part of being audacious or rebellious. This is just the way kids are coming to be now. But most of the time, parents do not know how to deal with this constant questioning, and this is when they bring in the whole authority issue. Understand this, and act accordingly.

I believe this has given you some hope about your child's safety online. Educating yourself and your kids about internet safetyshould be the top most thing on your list when you are introducing the world wide web to your child. Making your child grow up to be a responsible individual of the society will take care of most problems regarding safety in all sense - even on the internet. Do not use force - it will only drive your child further in the direction of misbehaving and overthrowing your authority. Instead, stress more on using logic and convince your kids about your points of view. All the best!

By Mrunal Belvalkar

copied from : http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-keep-your-kids-safe-online.html

Rules for internet safety

What is Internet safety? How can we implement safety measures on the Internet? Go through the rules for Internet safety to find the answers.

Internet is perhaps the largest pool of information and one of the largest communication platforms. Emailing, social networking and blogging have served as some of the most efficient means of reaching out to the masses. Search engines are lighthouses tracking the oceanic information base of the Internet! Connecting people around the world, the Internet has made this world a smaller place to live.

However, with an increase in the Internet use, concerns for Internet safety have risen. This wonderful resource for information and communication can turn out to be a dangerous networking platform. Hackers trying to hamper Internet privacy and security are a threat to the Internet users. The practice of gaining unauthorized access to confidential user data is on the rise. The unethical practices like phishing and spamming are annoying email users. Fraudulent behavior on the Internet is inviting Internet scams and Internet crime is escalating. It is high time that we took strict measures for safety on the Internet.

It is not advisable to give out your personal information without confirming the validity of the request. It is dangerous to leak your confidential data without confirming its authenticity of the website.

While social networking, it is not advisable to communicate with strangers. It is also not advisable to upload personal photographs or videos to social networking sites that lack privacy settings. Social networking sites should serve as platforms for a healthy exchange of information and not as a stage for unethical practices to spread.

Dealing with password security is an integral part of Internet use. Websites providing you with mail services, as also the websites supporting Internet banking and other electronic transactions require you to sign up to them; and that implies the use of username and password. A password should be designed such that it is difficult to guess yet easy to remember.

We often use the Internet for downloading music and videos. We download attachments from emails. While doing so, we risk computer security. Downloading from sources you do not trust, can prove dangerous for your local computer. Downloading from unauthorized sites raises ethical issues like copyright, piracy and netiquette.

Chat rooms are virtual rooms where people exchange views by means of chatting over the Internet. As people can openly communicate, a chat room has become one of the most popular destinations of Internet buffs. But, chat rooms can prove to be unsafe for kids and teens. A chat room exposes the user to strangers who may intend to exploit him/her. They also expose children to pedophiles and pornography. Predators participating in chat sessions may compel kids to take to unethical and illegal practices. They may force the kids to leak out sensitive information and use it against them. It is better to keep an early check on Internet use by children and youngsters, so that circumstances do not worsen. Browse through Internet safety tips for kids.

Children are most vulnerable to fall prey to the dangers of the Internet. They may disclose confidential information. Strangers may communicate with the children and lure them to ill practices. The information on the Internet is uncensored. Children tend to believe in everything they come across. Thus, if parents do not keep a check on the Internet use of their kids, Internet exposure may hamper their kids' mental and social well-being. For this, it is important for the parents to be computer-literate and efficiently guide their kids through this ocean of information and expression, the Internet.

By Manali Oak

copied from : http://www.buzzle.com/articles/rules-for-internet-safety.html

why is internet safety important

With the escalating popularity and usability of the Internet, it is only normal that issues like Internet security or Internet safety are being discussed. There are hackers, spammers, phishing scams, virus threats, spyware threats, pedophiles and even cyber-terrorists, who lurk on the Internet in search of easy victims. If you are wondering why people are increasingly stressing about Internet security and the need to ensure Internet safety while surfing the virtual world, then read the following reasons to know why Internet safety is important.

Why is Internet Safety Important?

In order to understand why you need to safeguard your privacy and maintain Internet safety standards, it is very important to be aware of the dangers or the risks associated with unsecured Internet access. Here some of the common issues in Internet safety:

Unauthorized Network Access or Hacking

Unauthorized access is one of the major threats as far as Internet safety is concerned. Network security consists of the provisions made in an underlying computer network infrastructure, to protect the network and the network-accessible resources from unauthorized access. Hacking means that people can hack your accounts, that is acquire your passwords and access your account. Once they have access to your account, they have complete control over all your transactions and can misuse your account for illegal or objectionable purposes. In case your online bank account is hacked, hackers can rob your money online as well.

Phishing, Email Frauds and Spamming

Phishing refers to the cases of online scams wherein people fraudulently acquire sensitive information by posing as a trustworthy entity via email or instant messaging. Often this information can include your important financial as well as personal contact details. The information can then be used for several illegal purposes and can be major problems. At times it can be sold to online advertisers as well. Online scams, which involve requests for your bank account numbers, passwords or any other sensitive information, are a menace over the Internet. Spamming might be relatively harmless but it is just annoying since it floods your mailbox with unwanted advertising. Spammers can also sell off your address and phone numbers and you might end up getting bombarded with telemarketing calls and snail mail as well.

Sexual Abuse, Pedophiles and Pornography

The Internet is flooded with illegal pornographic content, and sexual predators who are looking for easy victims on the Internet. There have been several instances of pedophiles, who have trapped the children via chat, web cams and bullied them into meeting in person and abusing them. Internet pornography is a major threat for the people who frequently keep on posting their photographs and videos over the Internet, since these can be misused and even posted on pornographic sites..

Cyber-terrorism - Threats to National and International Security

Several government sites contain important information, which is uploaded over the net. Even the government websites have security threats since people try and break into national and international security system to access undisclosed matters of national and international importance. Such cases of cyber terrorism also occur over the Internet. In addition to this, other terrorist activities like Internet extortions, or other criminal activities are also rampant in the virtual world.

Ways to Ensure Internet Safety:

Have strong firewall protection for your network. In case you want to secure your network for your home PC, you just need a basic firewall, anti-virus software, anti-spyware software and a robust password in case of wireless connections. In case you have a medium business, you would need a strong firewall and all the previously mentioned parameters with the additions of physical security and a network analyzer. In case of large businesses, stronger Internet security software, security fencing is required in addition to the network analyzers. Do not upload your pictures and videos on unreliable social networking sites that do not provide you any privacy guarantees.

Also it is safe to educate your children about the possible dangers of Internet and supervise their Internet activities for a while. Making Internet child-safe is also possible with the help of certain security software and hardware. Anonymous surfing is also one of the safety measures for securing your Internet activities. Internet safety or Internet security is an important issue that needs to be dealt with for safeguarding the security and privacy over the World Wide Web. In case you have experienced any Internet security threats, virus attacks or even an identity theft, it is time you start smart surfing and protect your computer and your data online.

copied from : http://www.buzzle.com/articles/why-is-internet-safety-important.html

The Internet Abuse

Internet is a wonderful form of technology. It provides information, which is helpful to your child in his studies and also gather general knowledge. Sometime sit goes even further…..

The amount of resources and information the Internet contains is astounding. With the help of information collected on the net your child gains vast knowledge. Parents and children together can work to make the Internet a positive experience. However left alone your child can misuse this wonderful knowledge bank and with no rules or regulations, teens can discover surreptitiously how to commit crimes, see things they ought not to see and chat with people of questionable character. Thus you as a parent must take precautions to see that you child does not abuse the internet access.

Educate yourself about the net

It is very essential for you to know about computers and be familiar with World Wide Web. Nothing can be more intimidating than a child knowing more about computers and internet than their parents, and often this is what happens with today's parents who probably know very little about internet than their children. Thus consider this aspect as to how you can know if something is amiss if you don't know or understand your child's online activities? Ask your child to show you what they know about the Internet and find out the sites they like to visit. Check out the contents of the site and ensure that it is appropriate for your kid.

Close monitoring and forbidden access

The location of your home computer may make a huge difference in the type of Web content your child reads and surfs. If possible, put your home computer in the living room, family room or some high traffic area of your house so that you can always monitor the internet access. This will restrict your teen to abuse the internet access and if your teen knows at any given moment that someone may approach the computer while they are surfing the net, they will be more cautious and careful of their online activities. Try to avoid allowing your child to have a computer with Internet access in their room. However if you feel strongly about your child having a computer with internet access in their bedroom, make sure they keep their door open while they are online so that you can monitor their online activities.

The next step is to set up rules and guidelines that your child must adhere to when surfing the net or engaging in online activities. Make it clear that they are not allowed to go into unmonitored or private chat rooms to chat with strangers. Secondly monitoring where your child has been on the Internet. Restrict their amount of online "play" time. In addition to monitoring programs, you must also install blocking or filtering software. Become familiar with these two types of programs. Blocking software generally blocks unwanted or restricted Web sites from being accessed. Filtering software allows you to program prohibited keywords such as XXX, sex, adult, guns, bombs and cults.

Standard Internet Safety

Another important thing that you need to teach your teen is standard internet safety. Such internet safety includes • Under no circumstance your teen should give anyone his or her name, address or telephone number. • Instruct your teen never to meet anyone in person whom they've met on the Internet, UNLESS you can accompany them to this meeting. If you do agree to let your teen meet someone in person, make sure you get this person's name, address, telephone number and any other important information. It's also a good idea to talk with the parents of the teen your child wants to meet and make sure the meeting takes place in a public place.

By Prerna Salla

copied from :http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/1-13-2005-64163.asp