No Name Online

Start With the Basics – Protect Your PC

Guarding Access to Your PC – Get a Firewall

Beginning in the Zhou Dynasty, which was in the 11th century BC, construction was begun on what was to become the Great Wall of China. For 2,700 years, culminating in the mid-1600s, construction continued on the wall until it stretched 4,163 miles from east to west China. The wall was constructed to prevent invasion by other states of China and outer tribes.

When you connect your PC to the Internet either through cable, dial-up, or DSL, it is like China prior to the Great Wall. Anyone can invade your PC, and plunder, pillage, and destroy content on your PC. A firewall acts just like the Great Wall of China. When installed, it acts as a barrier between your PC and the outside world. It prevents unwanted and unauthorized access to your PC over your Internet connection.

Firewalls come in two basic forms:

• Hardware firewalls – hardware firewalls are a piece of hardware, like a PC, that gets installed between your PC and your Internet connection. Literally, a cable from your cable or DSL modem gets connected to the hardware firewall. Another cable is connected from the hardware firewall to your PC. When done, the hardware firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and the Internet. It lets you get out to the Internet, but it does not allow unauthorized access from the Internet to your PC. Many cable, DSL, and wireless routers/switches have firewalls built into them.
• Software firewalls – A software firewall serves the same purpose as a hardware firewall. It, however, is software that gets installed directly onto your PC. The software monitors all inbound and outbound Internet traffic, and creates a software barrier between the Internet port into your PC and everything else on your PC. Once installed, it lets you get out to the Internet, but it does not allow unauthorized access from the Internet to your PC. Software firewalls have an advantage in that they can implement rigid controls over what software installed on your PC will be allowed to access the Internet.

Many people use both a hardware firewall and a software firewall. It is similar to having a fence to protect access to your yard, and then a front door to protect access to your house. Everyone should use at least one firewall, hardware or software. If you have a laptop, you should use a software firewall. That way the firewall goes with you, wherever you go, protecting your PC.

• Find more information on software firewalls here.
• Find more information on free software firewalls here.

Plug the Holes – Make Sure to Download Operating System Updates and Patches

By now, the security holes and flaws in Windows have become legendary. To their credit, Microsoft publishes a steady stream of fixes, patches, and update releases to plug all known security holes, flaws, and problems. In order for your PC to benefit from these patches and updates, you must, at a minimum, download and install the critical security updates that Microsoft makes available. You can do this one of two ways:

• You may download and install them manually by visiting the “Microsoft Update” link on the Microsoft web site.
• For newer versions of Windows, such as Windows XP, you can turn on the “Automatic Updates” feature of the operating system and allow the updates to be downloaded and installed automatically.

Either method works well. The “Automatic Updates” route takes the thought and work out of the process. Regardless of which method you choose, the important thing is to keep Windows up to date. Out of date versions of Windows can leave your PC open to hackers and viruses.

If you are using Mac OS or LINUX, then none of this applies. You are already using inherently more secure operating systems. It is still, however, important to install updates and patches to these operating systems as well to be up to date and to provide the best protection against unwanted intrusion.

Take Your Medicine – Install Antivirus Software

A computer virus is an unwanted software program that:

• Gets loaded onto your PC
• Replicates itself, meaning that it copies itself and distributes itself to other computers

A virus can get onto your computer from any of several sources, including:

• From a removable disk
• From an attachment to an e-mail message
• From a download while surfing the web
• From a worm through a known hole or flaw in your operating system

Once on your PC, the impact of a virus can range from relatively benign to rendering your PC unusable.

Antivirus software is software that you use to protect yourself from computer viruses. It can detect and remove known computer viruses. There are many excellent antivirus packages available that are relatively inexpensive. There are also several excellent antivirus packages available for free for home, non-commercial use.

• Find more information on antivirus packages here
• Find more information on free antivirus packages here

To prevent viruses form being able to harm your PC, you need to select one of the antivirus packages and install it on your PC.

TIPS: Make sure that your antivirus software is setup to:

• Automatically check for updates so that its’ virus definitions database is up to date and you are protected from the latest threats. Most updates are provided on an annual subscription basis. Make sure that you renew your subscription when it expires. Free products, such as AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, provide the updates at no cost.
• Automatically perform a virus scan at least once a week. If the PC is used to surf the web extensively then you may wish to perform virus scans more frequently, even once a day.

Stop the Spies – Install Anti-Spyware Software

Adware is any software that displays advertisements on your computer screen, either through banner advertisements within an application, or through pop-up windows. Spyware, which may also be known as a spybot, or tracking software, is computer technology installed on an individual’s PC that gathers information about them and their computer use. Adware and spyware removal software, or anti-spyware software, is software that is installed on your computer to combat the threats of adware and spyware. It will search your computer’s memory, file system, system registry, and browser caches for the existence of adware and spyware. It will then remove or quarantine any items that it finds. Adware and spyware removal software may also monitor for, and actively block, the downloading of spyware applications.

There are two excellent anti-spyware programs available for free, Ad-Aware SE Personal from Lavasoft, and Spybot Search & Destroy from Safer Networking Ltd. There are also many excellent anti-spyware packages that range in price from $19.95 to $39.95. Select and install one of these packages and run it on a regular basis.

• Find more information on anti-spyware packages here
• Find more information on free anti-spyware packages here

To prevent adware and spyware from being able to gather information about you, you need to select one of the anti-spyware packages and install it on your PC.

TIPS: Similar to antivirus software, make sure that your anti-spyware software is setup to:

• Automatically check for updates so that its’ adware/spyware definitions database is up to date and you are protected from the latest threats. The two free packages, Ad-Aware and Spybot do not have automatic update features, so you will need to perform this task manually. Ad-Aware at least tells you that your definitions database is getting old and asks you if you want to update it.
• Automatically perform an adware/spyware scan at least once a week. If the PC is used to surf the web extensively then you may wish to perform scans more frequently, even once a day. Ad-Aware SE Personal will only run automatically at system startup time. If you leave your computer on all of the time then you will have to remember to manually run the scans. Spybot can be scheduled to run automatically as one of its “Advanced Mode” features.

Spring Cleaning – Think About Privacy Software

As you use your computer, and surf the web, traces of your activity get left behind, stored on your computer in lists, temporary files, and caches. The best case is that these “leftovers” can clutter up your PC, and, with time, degrade its performance. The worst case is that someone who gains unauthorized access to your PC can read these files and learn a fair amount about you, potentially helping them to steal your identity.

Privacy software removes all traces of your PC and Internet activity, helping to protect your privacy.

As with antivirus software and anti-spyware software, privacy software should be run on a regular basis. It, too, can be setup to run automatically on a regular basis so that an end-user does not have to do anything to protect their privacy. The first time the privacy software is run it is not at all uncommon for it to recover in excess of 500MB of disk space by deleting the “leftover stuff” on your PC.

To prevent unauthorized intruders from being able to gather information about you, select one of the privacy packages and install it on your PC.

Think Before You Click – Use Some Common Sense

A little common sense can go a long way when trying to protect your PC. Most of what can compromise your security will come through e-mail, or when you are surfing the web. Because of this, you definitely need to think before you click. If you have not realized it already, most unsolicited e-mail is garbage. No matter how good the offer may sound, the common sense rule of “if it sounds too good to be true, it is…” applies. Most of what you receive unsolicited is designed to scam you out of money, to trick you into divulging private information, to install spyware and adware on your computer, or to install viruses on your computer.

Identifying Suspect E-Mails

So how do you identify the bad “stuff”? It actually is fairly easy to identify “suspect” e-mails. Common bad or suspect e-mails include:

• E-mails from people or companies with whom you have never corresponded or conducted business. You may receive e-mails that you need to verify your account information from a company that you do not do business with. You may receive a message that looks like it is from eBay that says they are going to shut off your account and you have never done business with eBay. Individuals and groups trying to perpetrate fraud will go to great lengths to try to look like a legitimate business. You need to use common sense. If it does not “feel” right, it probably is not.
• E-mails with gibberish in the title or in the body of the message.
• E-mails from friends, relatives, or business associates that do not make any sense.
• E-mails from yourself that you never sent or e-mails that are “returned” to you from someone that you have never corresponded with.

This list can go on forever with the many subtle variations. The bottom line is that if it does not feel right then consider it to be a bad e-mail.

Suspect e-mails should be deleted. Never click on links in suspect e-mails. Never open file attachments to suspect e-mails. Never reply or forward suspect e-mails. Simply delete them and move on.

Safe Surfing

Installing firewall software and antivirus software, and running anti-spyware software and privacy software should go a long way to protecting you when your are surfing. Here, again, some common sense applies. Avoid sites that do not “feel” right. Sites that are constantly trying to get you to fill out forms before you have much of a chance to learn anything about the site and the organization who owns the site are highly suspect. Pornography sites are famous for downloading spyware and viruses onto people’s computers. Stick to sites you know, the sites of reputable companies, and sites that come recommended by people you trust and you should be okay.

Protecting Your Kids

Now that you have taken care of the basics and protected you PC, it is time to specifically worry about keeping your kids safe. When trying to protect your children, it is important to:

• Set expectations
• Monitor and control what your children do online
• Use some common sense

Setting Online Expectations

It is important for you as a parent to be clear with your children what you expect of them when they are using the PC. You need to be clear about what you consider to be appropriate online behavior, as well as what is and is not appropriate to be accessing online. Children should be taught:

• That they should never give out personal information such as their name, address, e-mail address, phone number, or age to anyone over the Internet without your express permission.
• That they should never fill out forms without your permission.
• That they should tell you if they come across anything or anyone online that they feel is not appropriate or that makes them uncomfortable.
• That they should ask before downloading or installing software on a PC.
• That they should never, under any circumstances, arrange to meet alone with someone who they have met online. This can be especially important for your teenage children who may feel that they have met the boy or girl of their dreams online. If they feel that they absolutely must meet this individual, then they should arrange to do it with a responsible adult present. You should remind them that it is very easy for someone to masquerade as someone else online.

Monitor and Control What Your Children Do Online

The PC that your children use should be setup in a public location where it is easy for you to monitor what your children are doing. It is very difficult for a child to engage in questionable online activities when everyone in the family can easily look over their shoulder. If you have children who participate in chat rooms or use instant messaging software you should regularly ask them who they are communicating with. If they are evasive or do not tell you, take away their computer privileges. Having a safe mad child is better than having an unsafe happy one.

There is also software that can help parents protect their children. Software to help keep children safe comes in two forms: monitoring software, and parental control software.

Monitoring software allows parents to monitor activity on the family PC. Many packages will allow you to monitor computer activity including web surfing activity, e-mail messages, chat, and instant messaging. Some software will even allow screen shots to be taken at predetermined increments of time. Many of these packages will operate in stealth mode, meaning that no one will know that the software is even installed and running. Of course telling your children that you have software that is monitoring their activity may also act a a deterrent. Monitoring software typically does not filter out any bad content. It simply lets you know if someone is accessing things that are inappropriate.

Parental control software, or Internet filtering software, allows parents to control content that is displayed and block specific web sites. Some filtering software will filter e-mails and chat rooms, block pop ups, and even monitor chat rooms. This software is, by its very nature, more intrusive than monitoring software. It will filter out a lot of bad stuff. It may also miss some bad stuff. It may also filter out some good things.

The choice of which software to use will come down to personal preference. Some parents use both. If you choose to use no software than having the family PC in a public place and asking questions about what your children are doing online becomes much more important.

Use Some Common Sense

You should be aware if your child becomes secretive about what they are doing online. Averting a computer monitor, or quickly turning it off whenever someone walks into the room is not normal computer behavior. It is, however, the behavior of an individual who is trying to hide something. If your child is exhibiting “odd” computer behavior question them. If you get no answers or you do not like the answers, take away their computer privileges and/or get software that monitors their activity. As has already been stated, a mad safe child is better than a happy unsafe one.

The potential of the internet is staggering; its potential as a means of finding information, shopping, socialising, relaxing and generally making our lives easier and richer. It has therefore become a perfect place for all of us, but particularly our children, to express ourselves and flourish. However, its potential also extends to those looking to illegally exploit the billions of us logging on, so it’s vital that we know how to protect our children whenever they’re online.

There are perhaps more risks that can potentially affect children when they’re online than adults, but on the other hand it should, in many respects, be easier to keep these risks at an arms length. In addition to the threats that adults encounter, children may also have to be protected from issues ranging from inappropriate content (such as ‘adult’ sites) to the more sinister threats that some other users pose younger individuals online.

A Safe Environment

Before allowing your child to access the internet, your first step should be to set up a controlled environment in which your child can get online. That might mean specifying the times of the day in which they can access the computer (some operating systems now have built in controls to help you with this) but should definitely include setting up a unique account for your child which can then be set to have only limited permissions – for example, not the ability to download and install new programs.

Inappropriate Content

There is a forum for pretty much anything on the internet and that includes many subjects (and therefore much content) that would be inappropriate for young children to be exposed to. Ideally, as your child grows up you would want to educate them as to these dangers and encourage them to make their own sensible decisions when browsing the web, however it is also sensible to create a safe environment for them using parental controls so that they will not stumble into inappropriate areas by accident.

Parental controls can come in the form of special software or the built in functions in later versions of Windows and Mac OS which will allow you to specify which websites your children will be able to access as well as what activities they will be able to perform on your PC. It is worth spending some time familiarising yourself with these programs to ensure you create a safe but still rewarding environment for your child.

It is also worth keeping your browser up to date and ensuring that it is set to block pop up windows so that your children do not see anything they weren’t expecting to and setting your home page to a child friendly site so that they at least start browsing in a safe environment.

You can if you wish also install internet monitoring software which will track your child’s online activity if you have any concerns over what they might be seeing or doing.

Viruses

Before anyone connects to the internet on your PC, you or your child, you should always ensure that you have taken steps to protect the computer against the threat of malware, or as they tend to be more commonly referred, viruses.

Viruses are basically pieces of computer code which can find their way onto your computer and then perform actions that you wouldn’t want them to such as gleaning personal information from your hard drive, disrupting the running of your computer and attacking other people’s computers. The internet offers many ways for them to get around and to propagate and it is a constant battle to keep them at bay however, a few basic steps should give your PC enough protection for you to sleep easy – activate your firewall (most operating systems will have a built in firewall), install antivirus software and run scheduled scans – there are plenty of reliable and free antivirus programs available.

Viruses can hide themselves in files and emails that you download to your PC so you should also make you child aware that they should only download and open files and emails that they know are from a reliable and trusted source. Again parental controls can be used to restrict a child’s ability to download content which could potentially harbour viruses regardless of whether it is appropriate or not.

Many antivirus programs will come with scanners which can verify the safety of emails and files before they are opened. Email providers, such as Hotmail and Google, and desktop clients such as Outlook and Thunderbird, will attempt to filter out any messages that it thinks might be dangerous as Spam. However, your child should be encouraged to mark any messages that get through the filters as spam if they can’t verify where they have come from, and to raise any concerns with you.

Information/Identity theft

One of the biggest areas of cybercrime is that of identity theft, through either legally or illegally harvesting personal information. This is an issue for children using the internet just as much as it is for adults – criminals don’t mind whose information they can get.

The key thing to remember is that once you have put your information into the public domain you have no control over what happens to it. Therefore, you should only submit information to sites and services you trust to keep it secure. Your children should be made aware of these risks and if necessary limited to sites which can be trusted to handle personal information responsibly.

By having antivirus software installed you should be protected against the risk of spyware which would attempt to grab personal information from your PC but you children should also be made aware of the risks of responding to emails with personal information or following links back to websites which then request personal information. Emails that appear to be from a trusted source may or may not be a scam but emails really from trusted sources will not request personal information anyway as it is usually an unsecured method of submitting it.

Social Networking

Often the key driver for children wanting to be online is the opportunity that it offers for them to communicate with their friends and share their interests with them. Children are more likely to be familiar with how these social networking sites work than their parents but they may not be so aware of the potential risks.

Bullying (cyberbullying) on social networking sites is a growing concern and it is hard to proactively protect children against it. They should therefore be encouraged to report any instances to you as soon as they happen so that you can either report them to the site administrators and/or remove your child from the site.

A key lesson which applies to the whole of the web, but particularly social networking sites is that people may not be who they pretend to be. Children need to be acutely aware of this as they may encounter individuals posing as potential friends who have more unhealthy intentions.

Social networking sites encourage sharing and there is a risk that children will share too much information if they are not aware of the consequences. Before allowing a child on a social networking site it they should again be made aware of these risks and it may well be worth working with them to ensure their privacy settings are set to an appropriate level before they start using the site.

With all the risks, the key is to have an open dialogue with your child so that they are aware of internet safety, understand the potential threats and feel encouraged to report any issues to you. You cannot prevent every threat but if your child is educated on the dangers and has an open channel of communication with you, you can steer a safe course and your child will get the most out of the internet.

Who should read this article:

Any parent with minor children who use the internet.

Introduction:

Identity theft is a huge problem worldwide. It is not limited to adults; children can also have their identities stolen. It’s much harder to catch someone using a kid’s identity, since the child is under the age of 18.

Think about it: how many kids do you know that use a credit card? How many youngsters under the age of 18 work on a regular payroll (where they get paid by check, not cash)? Not many, I’ll bet. How long do you think that person will be able to work or buy things using your child’s identity? Not long or not at all if you are vigilant from the beginning.

This article will give you tips to proactively protect your minor child’s identity.

Proactively protect against ID theft:

1. I’ve often wondered about those family websites. Let’s take a fictional family: the Brown’s. On sites like these, you will often see pictures of all the children, where they go to school, how old they are, and so on. You can certainly share these things with other family members, but what possesses these people to put their family business online? Millions of internet users can study websites like these just by typing “list family websites” into any search engine.

Tip: a family site is not an appropriate place to post anything personal family information. It’s very easy for an online predator to steal private information. Take any family site down immediately.

2. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have exploded in popularity. I’ve often seen profiles of people that also list each member of their family, their photographs, and other identifying information. These social media sites are extremely popular these days, so there are lots of predators that can study each profile. All they have to do is become a member and start searching!

Tip: make your social media profiles as brief as possible. Post nothing (including any family pictures) that you wouldn’t want used against you or your child.

Tip: whatever you do, don’t let your minor child have his own social media profile. If she insists, do not let her post any pictures or any other information. She can even use an alias. Make sure you monitor her usage closely (insist on having her username and password).

3. This one is interesting: you need not provide your kid’s school with his social security number. Apparently, many schools ask for it and you DO NOT have to provide it. Wow, how easy it would be to grab hundreds of socials in one go. Can you see how many unblemished credit records you would have? Think of how many of these SSN’s can be used for work purposes.

Tip: don’t provide your child’s school with his social security number. The school can, if they wish, generate a nine digit random number(as an example) to represent your child. It should raise a red flag if they insist on it; in this case, consider another school for your youngster.

4. Does your child have a savings account? There is no need to give away any of your child’s personal information to the bank. All you need to do is establish the account in your name. Your child’s name can appear as the account holder, but your name should also be there as the guardian. And if the bank needs an identifying number and they insist on a social security number, give them yours. You can also take your business to another bank.

Tip: if your child has a bank account, establish it yourself and use your social security number if the bank insists.

5. Keep your kid’s social security card(and yours too!) under lock and key in your house. Preferably, keep all private information in a file folder and store it in a fire-proof box. Keep the safe hidden in a closet. Anyone breaking into your house will most likely be looking for cash or small items they can fence easily. They will not be looking for documents.

Tip: store all your youngster’s personal information in a file and put it in a fire-proof safe that has a lock on it. Never have any personal documentation in an unlocked drawer or on a shelf.

6. Many new online users think that sending regular email is safe, their privacy assured. Nothing could be further from the truth. Email is easy to intercept and read. Most email users are not sophisticated enough to encode all their messages and have the receiver at the other end decode each message before reading. Lots of people use their email attachment capability to send pictures and other information about their children to other family members and friends.

Tip: don’t use email attachments to send family photos and especially other identifying information on any family member. Online information is simply too easy to steal. So what can you do instead? Send any pictures via the post office or even better, UPS or Fedex. If you send the photos along with other things, it is very unlikely to be opened and resealed en route. Think about it: the bad guy has to open the package, look around for identifying information he can use, and reseal the package. It’s too easy for him to get caught!

Tip: if you need to send personal information about your child, use registered or address/return/receipt mail. That’s the safest way. Even your telephone conversations can be monitored if someone wants to go to a LOT of trouble, but it’s possible.

Tip: if your child has his own email account, make sure you know his user name and

password. Monitor his email yourself. Encourage your kid to make up an address book of his trusted friends and relatives. Then set up his email so that anything coming from other addresses is sent to the junk folder AND immediately deleted. Your son or daughter should never has to see any junk email.

Tip: make sure to investigate any new friends your child adds to his address book. If it is someone he knows only online, you need to find out what you can about this person before any emailing takes place. Again, monitor your child’s email, to the point of reading any email before she does. You will not be popular, but you will feel safer. As your child gets to be about 16 or so and seems to be trustworthy, you can relax these rules a bit.

7. When your child starts using the internet, it’s time to sit down and talk to him about identity theft predators online. Explain to your son or daughter how easy it is for someone to steal their identities. You will also have to try to help them understand why this is so important. When you start talking about “credit history” and “bad credit” and “ruined credit”, it may pass over their heads. You might talk to them about someone working using their SSN, but they may not understand. That’s OK, keep talking until they get old enough to understand for themselves.

Tip: talk to your children early about the importance of keeping their identities private. Start when they start using the internet or around 13 at the latest. Use parent controls on your kid’s computer, and make these controls as tight as you want. You won’t be popular with your children, but they will thank you later when they hear about their friends who have had their identities stolen!

Tip: tell your child again and again not to give out any personal information in emails, especially to someone they met online. Do not allow your minor child to send any pictures of themselves to people you have not met.

8. If you both work and need to hire care providers for your children, do not give these household employees any more information than they need to know. There is no reason for a nanny or babysitter to know your child’s social security number. Any child care provider needs to know where to take your child in a medical emergency, what time to take or pick him up from school, what to feed him, and so on. And that’s it.

Tip: if you need to hire a care provider for your children, give them ONLY what they need to know to do their job effectively. No matter how long they work for you, they do NOT need to know any personal information about your child, including their social.

9. Here’s a pretty obvious one: use a combination of letters and numbers for any password. Also, make any user id have the same equal combination of letters and numbers. So if your child has his own email or social media account, here are some quick tips for user id and password aliases:

Tip: do not use any part of your child’s name. No middle names, no confirmation names, no first initial/last name combinations. These are too easy to guess or find accidentally.

Tip: do not use any pet’s name, like the family dog. This is especially true if your child posts a picture of his dog and mentions that the dog’s name is “Sam”.

Tip: a user name or password should not be any word that can be found in the dictionary. There are many password guessing programs that simply go through the dictionary, trying various combinations of words.

Tip: make sure that any user name or password is at least 12 characters long. Many social media or email sites require at least six characters, but this is not enough. The longer the passcode is, the harder it is to guess or dig out using software.

Tip: let’s say your kid’s name is Joseph David Williams.

Here’s an example of an easy to guess user name and password combination:

user name: jwilliams

password: david

Here’s an example of a very hard to guess user name and password combination for the same Joseph David Williams:

user name: *Sdc56s+)9s^c

password: 7^jbMj(LA79K&-

Note the use of capital and small letters, special characters, and how all of these can be combined into “words” that make no sense.

Tip: many sites will offer to remember at least the user name. Don’t let them. Make your child type it in every time. He will think this a real “pain in the neck” and he’s right, it is! But it’s better to take an extra minute or two and type in a hard to guess user name/password combination than to have someone steal his identity!

10. Don’t let your children have any type of deluxe or feature-rich cell phone. Make sure his cell phone can’t do any of the following:

a. Take pictures

b. Has internet access

c. Allows text messaging

Tip: This one’s easy. If you let your kid have internet on his cell phone, then his online usage is out of your control. Text messaging can be very expensive. It’s something your child does not really need. And there’s the whole privacy issue with cell phones that can take pictures. If you give your child a cell phone, it should be “no frills”, in other words, just a telephone.

Conclusions:

Most of the above is common sense, but it is amazing how trusting people are online. They tell things about themselves that they wouldn’t tell members of their own family. They somehow think that what they say is private and that they are invulnerable. This is especially true of teenagers.

You will understand and agree with this article if you make it a point to lock your doors at night and when you are not at home. Why make it easy for someone to break in?

Do yourself and your children a great favor; do anything you can to protect their identities, especially if they use the internet. If your child gets a laptop at school, make sure the school puts restrictions on online use.

One last thing: unfortunately, many people who steal children’s identities are other family members. You may have to consider not telling cousins, uncles, aunts, etc any personal information about your child unless they are staying with them.

Don’t let anyone convince you that you are being paranoid, better safe than sorry!