As I have discussed previously in the main board, I posted 3 cyber-related words that are of much importance to all esp. if you have kids or young people in the house that uses the net for their homework. I will review in here those 3 words and then we'll proceed to a few simple solutions to keep your children safe while surfing the net.
MOUSETRAPPING: a technique that forces users to remain on the website even if they want to leave by closing the current browser and another one or two or more websites pop-up. This is the most annoying practice as this is going to drive you nuts because it feels like it will never stop and puts a big scare on the user or someone new to the net making them feel like they had been hacked. (I've been a victim a few times when I was new to the cyberworld and was hosting, someone's profile had a website that was actually a joke site that never let me get out of the site until I had to reboot).
SPIMMING: mass mailings that are sent as IM (instant messages) to computer users. These can often show links to illegal/underage sites or very explicit porn sites.
SPAMMING: mass mailings of ads sent blindly to thousands of email addesses. just like spimming they get people to open the email due to catchy phrases on their subject or they get thru inbox filters by misspelling their subject, etc.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's all think of simple ways to keep your child safe:
1) I think discipline is one of the best tools to use when we're teaching kids about safety. If we talk to them ahead of time and let them know that there are things that are undesirable from the net and that they should stay away from those. Give them an allotted time in using the computer and make sure that the computer is somewhere in plain view of an adult(s) as this will discourage them to stay within their limits. Even with an adult supervising nearby, make sure that you still check on your child and that they're are not being exposed to those relentless pop-ups with or without porn.
2) Check for the computer history files. Our computers have the capability of saving a list of websites that we have visited (1 day or more). You can access the history files by typing c:/windows/history and clicking on the dates will give you an idea what sites your kids have visited.
3) You can also keep your computer locked by adding a password to it known only by you or your spouse. By doing this, children can only access the computer when the parents are home. Don't let them talk you out of giving them the password for "emergency purposes only".
There are several providers that actually have added special features as part of their offer in keeping children's safety while on the net. www.WiredSafety.org pointed out MSN 8.0, AOL, and CyberPatrol to have the most advanced parental control available including options for filtering, monitoring and time-restricted access.
MSN 8.0: provides a weekly activity report of where your children have surfed and all their email or IM. Content is filtered based on the settings prescribed by the parents. It also allows parents to restrict time online or shut down access during certain hours (during the middle of the night, etc.)
AOL Guardian: provides the same services like MSN. It can email reports about your children's surfing, email and IM activities, filter out porn sites and restrict access per parents' specifications.
CyberPatrol: provides the same options as MSN and AOL for a $39.00 annual fee.
I hope that helped a little bit. If you have any other tips about this issue, pls. feel free to post and add it here.
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