Playing on the financial angst of consumers, criminals posing as the IRS and armed with e-mail addresses such as service@irs.gov and tax-refund@irs.gov, are trying once again to deceive the unwary.
How do you know if it’s a scam? For starters, the IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications through e-mail. Ever.
This scam contains a ‘form’ for you to download. In the variant I received, clicking on the form actually took me to a defunct Web site. In researching this scam, the Web site link appears to change frequently. NEVER click on, or download something from an e-mail you receive from somebody you don’t know.
The IRS has a page you can refer to for help in identifying fraudulent e-mails and Web sites claiming to be from the IRS. You may also want to forward suspicious e-mails to the Federal Trade Commission at: spam@uce.gov.
Test your skills
You should be able to find at least six red flags that tell you this e-mail is fraudulent. Click on the picture below to see the answers, but try to find them yourself, first. If you find all six, you’re a pro with little to worry about. If you find fewer than four, consider practicing on some more examples in our Safety Guides.
How well did you do? Click on the picture see the risks highlighted.
Bogus IRS address though clever, taxrefund@irs.gov is not a legitimate IRS e-mail address. Always check with the company, agency, or entity to see if the e-mail address being used is in fact legitimate. Remember: the IRS does not contact taxpayers via e-mail, but always uses US mail for all official communication.
The spammer does not know your name – the IRS would.
Look closely at the form attached – there is an extra .htm added to the end of it. This means it is not a form at all, but a Web site. Additionally, no financial institution - IRS, bank or credit card company will ask for your account details or personal information in an e-mail.
The e-mail demands urgent action on your part they want you to act before you think.
Again, the e-mail is not addressed to you. Any legitimate sender knows who you are.
You are asked to download something from a sender you don’t know.
Last week, I was a panel moderator for Kids at Play Summit, a unique section of the annual Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas. The show is the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow and this year it featured consumer technology products in 30 categories with more than 2,700 exhibitors showing their wares.
Just the fact that there is a unique Kids at Play section of the conference is a testament to the growing interest in providing a richer and safer online experience for youth, and to the steadfast determination of Robin Raskin the creator of this event.
The technologies available to youth today far surpass what was available even a year ago and while some are merely for entertainment, many are designed to educate, empower and enlarge the world in which kids live.
Companies are hearing the concerns of parents and regulators regarding the safety of internet services, particularly those that target minors, and many are stepping up to provide greater safety functionality, include better safety information and improve the ability of parents to interact with their children online.
There is still a long way to go before we’ve created the environment that needs to be in place, but great strides are happening as the presentations and demonstrations at CES clearly demonstrated.
To learn more about the products demonstrated at the Kids at Play summit check out Robin’s blog. I will be reviewing some of these products for you over the next several months. Also check back on the Kids at Play Summit site in a week to watch videos of the panel sessions (the session I moderated will be posted on ilookbothways.com as well as soon as it is available.)
With the dramatic increase in identity theft, there has been a correlating surge in the popularity of ID theft insurance. Advertisements for this type of insurance are everywhere - billboards, radio, magazines, TV and online - but how do you know if you actually need identity insurance?
For some, the price of ID theft insurance is well worth the peace of mind it provides, particularly as the incident rate of identity theft continues to rise. However, it is important to know what ID theft insurance does and does not cover. It typically does not prevent you from becoming a victim of ID theft, nor does it protect you from financial loss. It does not fix your credit rating or expunge a criminal record, traffic tickets, or owed taxes that someone has acquired in your name.
Unlike auto insurance that will take care of the repair your car, Identity theft insurance typically only covers are the costs associated with you cleaning up your identity records.
For the $25 -$150 a year subscription, ID theft insurance usually reimburses victims expenses for between $15,000-$25,000 to help reestablish your financial identity - including the cost of copying documents, making phone calls, lost wages for time off work needed to fix your identity, notary services, certified mail, and attorneys fees should they be necessary.
It is worth bearing in mind that expenses associated with restoring your ID can quickly add up particularly if your income is wage, rather than salary, based. The time it will take to restore your identity can vary significantly, anything from a few hours to several hundred hours, and for many the lost wages is a real burden – even though coverage maximums for lost income is often only $2,000. Most of the clean up after ID theft is something victims have to do for themselves. Few need an attorney, but should you be one of the 16% who do need legal services, having these fees covered by insurance can also be a great benefit.
Before you make a decision as to whether ID theft insurance is right for you, consider the following questions:
1)Check your homeowner insurance policy – it may already include ID theft coverage, or you may be able to add it to your policy for a nominal fee
2)Review the policy’s coverage limits. Most top out between $15-$25k, but there are likely to be reimbursement limits by category – like for lost wages, and legal fees, and some expenses may require pre-approval by the insurer.
3)Does the policy have a deductible? You may be required to cover the first $100-$500 yourself
If you do choose to purchase ID theft insurance, do not ease your vigilance. You still need to proactively avoid becoming a victim of ID theft by protecting sensitive information, and by frequently monitoring your financial accounts, medical records, and other sensitive information.
Though there are several skills you can acquire to stay safe depending on your activities, there are three main aspects to Internet safety that every user must understand and incorporate into online behavior to be protected online.
Understand the potential safety risks online in both a broad and factual manner
By broad I mean that the risks aren’t just the oft-publicized trio of ID theft, cyberbullying, and sexual predation. Online risks cover a full gamut of crimes that may leverage the Internet. In addition, online risks include a wide spectrum of concerns around privacy and ethics that may have nothing to do with breaking laws.
A factual understanding of online risk is also necessary to react appropriately. The current angst over sexual predators trawling the Web, for example, is causing many parents to over react about the defenses they need to have in place. Are there horrific cases of sexual predation involving the Internet? Yes, however, fortunately, the actual number of cases is low.
Focusing on Internet sexual predators is like focusing on the threat of an eruption from a mountain that has been dormant for 200 years, instead of focusing on the risk of a robbery in a crime-ridden area that lies in the path of the mountain. An earthquake or eruption would be immeasurably more damaging, but it is far less likely to occur. Children should be educated in how to respond in the event of an earthquake, but much more time and emphasis should be put on installing secure locks and other measures to prevent the likeliest risks to their safety.
The good news is that all of the risks are manageable if not outright preventable. Read more about what drives online risk in Understanding Internet Risks 101
Know how to apply Internet safety
There is a real gap between theory and practice in every skill. Simply reading a driver’s manual or watching others drive may help, but it does not adequately prepare you to operate a motor vehicle. Beyond awareness and understanding there must be the acquisition of solid skills through practice. For example, it is not enough to know that information exposure can put you at risk, or that you need strong passwords. You have to learn and practice the skills of identifying how and where information is exposed, how to create powerful passwords, and so on.
There are about 10 skills everyone should practice to master Internet safety, and none are hard to learn, nor do they require a degree in computer science. Once learned, they stick with you – much like riding a bicycle -- and automatically kick in when needed. Check out our skill building tools.
Diligence online
Even if you have practiced and acquired safety skills, carelessness leads to mistakes. When you’re in a hurry, or distracted, you trip up – you cut yourself with a sharp knife in spite of knowing how to use a knife properly, you narrowly miss another car in a preoccupied moment, and so on.
Carelessness online has similarly risky results. You have probably experienced that sinking feeling after pressing the send button for an e-mail that you really didn’t want to go out. Maybe you’ve had that feeling the minute after you responded to a spam message, entered your credit card number to make a purchase on a shady Web site, or given your e-mail alias to a person you really don’t want to have it.
Another threat to diligence is recklessness. This is particularly so for teens and for those who consider themselves technically savvy. Both groups believe nothing will happen to them, though they have rather different reasons for their assumptions. Teens feel invincible, and therefore take risks you and I would not. Tech-savvy individuals think they know how to defend against online attacks. To the extent that the threats are technical, such as viruses attacking their computers, this is likely to be true. But using and updating antivirus software does not help with socially engineered crimes, encroachments on privacy, and ethical violations. These cases have little if anything to do with technology, but more with understanding human behavior – particularly the negative aspects of human behavior.
For those deliberately acting without regard for their own safety (and the safety of others) there is little that will help them avoid some hard knocks – offline and online. Fortunately, most people have a healthy level of self-preservation. For these people the best that can be done is to present the risks in a factual way that helps them see their own self-interest. If they see that some of their online actions may be detrimental to themselves or those they care about, they are far more likely to moderate their behavior than if they are told to follow a set of rules they think don’t apply to them.
For the rest of us, gaining a clear understanding of potential risks, learning a few core Internet safety skills that automatically kick in when needed, and trying to stay focused and alert while online will go a long way to creating the really fantastic online experience that enhances our relationships, improves our knowledge, provides entertainment, and helps us work.
It seems that in spite of a major ‘spam bust’ in October, the amount of junk coming to my email account continues to increase and I suspect you are experiencing the same phenomena.
Knowing how to spot spam is one of the best ways to increase your Internet safety, and we try to keep you up-to-date on new spam scams and as well as the general characteristics to always watch for – you can learn more on these recent posts Common e-mail scams, New Email Scams to Watch Out For, The ‘News Alert Scam’ or just use the site’s search function to find articles about spam.
Now I’ve got a confession to make, I actually enjoy a good new spam scam. They let me keep up with the latest angles criminals are using and I enjoy playing “spot-the-obvious-signs-of-fraud”.
I got an example today that is worth sharing. You should be able to find at least 9 pieces of evidence that this email is fraudulent. Click on the picture below to see the answers, but try your skills first. If you find all 9 you’re a pro with little to worry about, if you find fewer than 6 consider practicing on some more examples.
How well did you do? Click on the picture see the risks highlighted.
Bogus eBay address – they did not even spell ‘eBay’ properly.
The spammer does not even know your name – eBay would.
Again, the spammer does not address the email to you.
The email demands ‘urgent’ action on your part – they want you to act before you think.
There are spelling errors and the grammar is poor – they even misspell ‘debit’.
The spammer claims you have an invoice date (and an amount due) but they do not know when or how much.
They want you to click on the link (hint: when you click a link like this, you will be infected with malware). When you hover over a link in email, the address appears at the bottom of your screen. In this case it’s http://departmentebe.szm.sk/rux.htm....... no stretch of the imagination could convince someone that this is a legitimate address.
The email threatens you with consequences. No reputable company would ever contact you in this manner.
The biggest clue of all?? You have not made a recent purchase on eBay.
If your waistline started the outward slide from the Thanksgiving feast through the holiday parties, the Web is a great resource to can help you get out, and get moving.
SkierNet – this is a sister site to Slackerpacker (found on Greg’s list) that is designed by skiers for skiers. It gives a great directory of ski area information by state ‘from community rope tows to mega resorts’. The site also provides lots of tips and charts to help skiers of all abilities.
Localhikes – provides ‘information on local hiking opportunities near both large and small metropolitan areas in the United States. You can find the perfect trail by selecting your metro area below to browse the available hikes, or by using the search feature to find the trails closest to your home or office.’
GORP – provides outdoor travel guides by state for hiking, but also for scenic drives, road trips area events, local outdoor clubs, park ratings and more.
National Park Service – the definitive source for information on trails and access in our national parks, many of which have unique winter activities for individuals and families.
This holiday season give yourself, and your family, the gift of good health and gain a greater appreciation for the world we live in.
New research from Microsoft explores the impact of health-related Web content on consumer behavior. Their conclusion? A great many of us suffer from ‘cyberchondria’ - the practice of drawing dire conclusions about one’s health from researching symptoms and conditions online.
The researchers found that among their study sample, roughly 2% of Web queries were health-related, and about a quarter of these included at least one medical search. About a third of sample subjects “escalated” with follow-up searches to explore serious illnesses.
The researchers also found that ‘information obtained from healthcare-related searches can affect peoples’ decisions about when to engage a physician for assistance with diagnosis or therapy, how to treat an acute illness or cope with a chronic condition, as well as their overall approach to maintaining their health or the health of someone in their care’.
Three factors compound the problem of health-related online searches.
Not all web-content is created equal. Many sites are not legitimate or reliable sources for medical information.
Website ranking is not a reliable indicator of validity. Many users only look at the first few search results assuming they must be the most valid. This may or may not be the case – particularly if the website has paid for placement (these are the ‘sponsored links’ at the top of search results).
Frequency of content found online is not proportional to actual risk. The researchers found just as many results that linked headaches with brain tumors as with caffeine withdrawal, although the chance of having a brain tumor is infinitesimally small.
There is a great deal of extremely useful health content available online, but before you change your diet, dosage, or decisions contact your doctor. For more information see my blog Who are you going to trust: Your doctor or the Web?
A new crop of email scams making the rounds follow the 2 key principles every scam artist learns: make the scam relevant to the concerns of consumers today, and attempt to be plausible.
Practice your scam spotting skills to avoid being ripped off by the following emails:
The Federal BailoutClaim – “You’ve qualified for a $7,500 recession aid credit line”
This scam plays off the hopes of consumers struggling with debt and entices people to fall further behind with overspending.
Look at the clues:
Check the sender’s email address. You aren’t going to get a legitimate email from @judgescheek.net
Never click on a link in an email from an unknown sender. This email has three links: ‘Click here to view images’, ‘click to activate’ and click to access their ‘instant removal link’. All take you to a malicious site
TIP: Hover over links to see the actual URL displayed – in this scam, the URL incorporates your own name.
Don’t try this at home: To test the scam for you, I clicked on the links. Click to activate actually took me to a site that offered credit reporting. The Instant removal link took me to an entirely blank webpage that displayed a canned thank you message.
The discount drug offer with the “Guaranteed Lowest Price”
When budgets get tight affording medications gets harder and the temptation to find bargains online increases and scammers crawl out of the woodwork. (see my blog In Sour Economy, Some Scale Back on Medications)
Look at the clues:
Check the sender and their email address. The sender appears to be a person – not a company, and their email address doesn’t even match their company URL.
3) and 4) The spam is full of nonsense words and grammatical errors.
Never click on a link in an email from an unknown sender. If you haven’t heard of an pharmacy called kjn.rxstand.cn, and you don’t know Leida, don’t click.
3) Another twist on the old “There is a problem with your account”
This scam is practically an antique – but so many people continue to fall for it that it gets pulled off the moth-balls for another found of consumers frequently.
Look at the clues:
Check the sender and their email address. In this case, the sender’s account has several obvious scam attributes. The sender isn’t PayPal, it’s ‘int.paypal’ and that ‘.gr’ at the end is the country domain extension for Greece. Pleeeze!
The service doesn’t know who you are. The To: address is blank, and in the body of the message you’re ‘Dear member’.
The email is URGENT. Scammers hope that in your haste, you’ll leave your common sense behind.
You haven’t taken the action claimed – in this case you haven’t notified PayPal that you forgot your password.
Never click on a link in an email from an unknown sender. – In an email as phony as a wooden nickel you’re guaranteed trouble.
Email scams aren’t going away, but YOU don’t have to become a victim. Check out my blog Common e-mail scams, and use the practice examples there to test your skills.
Several new kid-safe websites like KidZui and iLand5.com have emerged that provide controlled environments where the content and communication are carefully monitored to protect kids from a variety of online risks.
Sound familiar? These products represent the latest evolution of the Internet walled garden concept – where only an exclusive set of content is provided to subscribers. Walled gardens can be a great way to go for families as long as you understand the limitations with using them.
A quick review of the Internet’s walled garden history provides insight into the rise and fall of restricted environments. Think of AOL in the early 1990’s; they built their brand by packaging a walled garden online experience in an easy-to-use interface that made millions of families feel safe enough to embrace the Internet. This combination powered AOL’s meteoric rise as the 800-pound gorilla of ISP’s, and ‘you’ve-got-mail’ became a globally recognized phrase.
Then their success came crashing down. What happened? The easy answer is to say that walled gardens failed to maintain or explain the core benefits they originally provided. In reality, it’s a bit more complex, but the rising popularity of the so-called kid-safe environments is a manifestation of buyer’s remorse by some who threw out walled gardens for so-called ‘free’ services and are now rethinking that choice.
Here’s what happened
In the early dot.com days, companies built their business models on the assumption that consumers would happily pay a subscription to use their online services. This proved to be a fatal miscalculation as consumers wanted it all – for free. Thousands of companies were stranded with no foreseeable source of income and the dot.com bubble burst.
The companies who weathered that storm had to figure out where revenue would come from – and found the best source of revenue was with advertisers.
Changing the revenue model marked an enormous shift. In that moment, we went from a model where consumers were the Internet services’ customers to an environment where the consumer became the commodity.
This shift affected every aspect of online services development. It meant that providing the best, safest experience to satisfy customer demands was no longer as important as driving new cool features that would bring in more users to view advertisements. It meant cutting abuse detection, monitoring and prevention tools while developing features that encouraged consumers to ‘share’ more personal information that could be data-mined and sold (and resold) to advertisers - and abused for cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, ID theft, sexual predation and a wide variety of other crimes.
The consequences of this shift were not hard to anticipate. When consumers were no longer the customers, the accountability to protect and provide the best services for us got lost.
And here we are. The Internet is a fantastic tool full of opportunity and promise, and it is our future. Yet it has been tarnished by greed, corporate arrogance and the basest of human nature. Many consumers are more fearful of using the Internet today than they were 10 years ago. Fourty-nine Attorney’s General have demanded that Internet companies provide remedies voluntarily or accept regulations.
The increasing demand for walled gardens is essentially an acknowledgement that internet sites and services in general have failed to provide the safeguards and settings consumers need for online safety, setting content preferences, and maintaining privacy.
In this void parents are scrambling to find safer alternatives for their children, and the walled gardens are regaining their appeal with three very clear benefits – that may outweigh the negatives:
Walled gardens are an excellent choice for the youngest of users. They are too limiting for older youth who need greater access to online content and need to learn to take responsibility for their own online actions in order to become independent, responsible internet citizens.
The ‘free’ Internet isn’t really free, we get what we pay for.
Claim: Provides “unparalleled protection from online predators”
Price: $29.00 for a lifetime enrollment
Their pitch:
Their Guarantee: “eGuardian is guaranteed to protect your child online — while not limiting his or her Internet options”
How it works: “eGuardian is not site-blocking software or content filter. eGuardian uses its unique process to identify your child’s age group, allowing sites to provide age-appropriate content, build communities with other eGuardian-verified children, and exclude unauthorized contact with adults. By grouping children into age groups — similar to movie ratings — websites and search engines can refine content for your child, and bar adult sites from complete access to minors.”
“When a parent enrolls his or her child, eGuardian verifies the information with the child's school, guaranteeing that the information is accurate and that the person enrolling the child is indeed the parent or legal guardian. Once verified, we are able to provide parents with a unique eGuardian ID for each enrolled child.”
Review:
eGuardian is a fairly good version of an identity authentication product, but it carries the flaws of authentication services – including:
Authentication is burdensome. It requires schools to take a key role in the authentication process, something schools are not set up to do and it is fraught with privacy issues.
The authentication process only authenticates that the account was assigned to a child - it does nothing to ensure it is only used by a child. It can be used by anyone the child gives the access information to. Note: Child sexual predators have parents.
Since eGuardian users can only talk to others who have been through the same onerous authentication process, there will be few other kids to interact with.
No matter how secure the company stores children’s personal information, no company should be collecting this much information about minors.
My larger concern relates to the flawed problem statement. eGuardian’s stated goal is to block interactions between adults and minors while allowing contact between people in the same age group. Their claim is “Once protected with eGuardian, your child can only communicate with other eGuardian-verified children, or others specifically approved by you, the parent.”
Frankly, this isn’t the problem that needs solving. The risk isn’t in speaking with adults; the risk is in exploitive and abusive conversations – with anyone.
Interactions between adults and minors are usually positive; in fact, minors represent a greater threat to other minors for a wide variety of exploits including incidents of cyberbullying, fraud, scams, and sexual offence.
The bottom line:
eGuardian over-promises “eGuardian effectively blocks predators from reaching your child and makes search engines and social networking sites safe for your child.” and fails to address the real issue of abusive interactions, not interactions with adults.
With the economy down, online bargain hunting is fast becoming a national sport. Internet retailers are expecting to win big as traditional stores struggle to match the Internet’s convenience and prices…. and the holiday sales wars are just heating up.
Getting a great deal online involves more than just getting the lowest price. You want to be sure that products arrive on time, that quality is what you expected, that items include a proper warranty, and that there is a way for you to return products or get support with any questions or issues you have.
Here are the 8 steps to safer shopping:
Trust is Key. Know the Merchant – or Their Reputation
If you already know the retail chain, shopping their online store is very safe. If there’s a problem you can always walk into the local store for help.
If you know others who have had consistently positive experiences with the online store, you can be reassured of the site’s quality.
If you don’t know the store, it may still be the best bet, you just need to take a few more precautions. Conduct your own background check by looking at sites dedicated to reviewing e-stores (for example, Epinions, BizRate, Better Business Bureau). Another Web site to consider is TheNational Fraud Information Center which watches out for shady Internet dealings and offers consumer tips on its Web site. If the store isn’t listed as a legitimate site by one of these sources, move on.
Is the Offer ‘Too-Good-to-be-True? Avoid buying from any e-store that promises too much at too low a price. If the price is low, you have to consider whether the merchant came by the items legally, whether you will ever receive the items, whether the items will work, if you will be able to return damaged goods, or if the merchant is also generating revenue by selling your financial information. Disreputable stores frequently run an absurdly low price offer and then, claiming the item is out of stock, try to sell you something else; this is a classic "bait and switch" technique.
Giving a Gift Card? Be wary of Bankruptcies – this warning is particularly important this year as many stores are struggling or already know they’ll be shutting their doors. Make sure gift cards will be redeemable if the store is facing bankruptcy.
Does the Merchant Collect More Information than is Necessary to Complete the Sale? You will need to provide some method of payment, address, and telephone number. If a merchant requests your bank account information, social security information, or driver’s license number, NEVER provide it. Some reputable companies ask additional questions about your interests. This should always be optional. Remember, your information is a commodity and you should feel you are getting appropriate value – and control – before providing your information.
Need a Password? – Make it Unique. Passwords don’t have to be hard to remember, just hard to guess. Click here to learn how
Make Sure the Site is Secure - Before entering Any Personal or Credit Card Info
Look to see if the web address on the page begins with "https:", not of "http." You should also see a small padlock symbol at the bottom of your screen.
Never pay through email. Security protections do not work in e-mail applications so only make payment online though a secure site.
Use Your Credit Card – not a Debit Card, Check, Cashiers Check, Wire Transfer, Money order or well-respected payment service like PayPal.
Credit card purchases limit your liability to no more than $50 of unauthorized charges if your financial information is stolen.
Consider creating a dedicated e-mail account for online shopping and transactions, and to use one credit card exclusively for online purchasing and transactions. If that card gets compromised, you can quickly shut it down.
Review the company’s shipping methods. Understand what carriers they use, their shipping rates, and if they provide tracking and insurance.
If you adhere to these recommendations, you should feel pretty confident. Let the online shopping begin…
News about internet crimes often mentions 'bots', 'zombies', and ‘botnets’. It’s not hard to figure out from the context that these are computer or network security threats. But what exactly are they and how do they work?
A 'bot' is a type of malicious code that allows an attacker to take complete control over the affected computer – turning the computer into a ‘robot’ that the criminal can remotely control. Once infected, these machines may also be referred to as 'zombies'.
While taking over one computer is useful, the real value comes from collecting huge numbers of computers and networking these so they can all be controlled at once (a botnet). There are between 100-150 million computers worldwide (out of 600 million PCs on the Internet) infected with bots and under the control of hackers. These computer owners unwittingly put everyone at risk, and most would be shocked to learn that the spam you’re receiving is coming from thousands or even millions of computers just like (and including) theirs. Frankly, failing to adequately protect your computer is socially irresponsible. Click here to learn how to protect your computer.
Now, the way criminals make money from connecting all of these computers is twofold:
Criminals can use the botnets themselves. This may be to send spam, phishing, or other scams to consumers that will earn them money. They may use them to create denial of service (DoS) attack that floods a service or network with an crushing amount of traffic to severely slow down the networks ability to respond or entirely overwhelm it and take it down. The revenue from DoS attacks comes in the form of extortion (pay or have your site taken down) or through payments by other groups with interest in inflicting damage. These groups include "hacktivists" — hackers with political agendas and foreign military and intelligence organizations. In 2008 several ISP’s reported multi-hour outages of their services due to advanced DoS attacks according to research by Arbor Networks.
Criminals also rent out their botnets to other criminals for the same exploits as they use the botnets for themselves.
Here’s an attempt at illustrating botnets are created:
If you have not installed security software and ensured that it is turned on, and kept up-to-date your machine is likely infected with all kinds of malicious software, including bots. The best protection is to run anti-virus and anti-spyware programs diligently and to install every patch that your operating system makes available. Set your computer up to run these automatically for the best protection.
Even with the most up-to-date protection tools, there is still some risk because the developers of malware are always looking for new ways to get around security measures, and your own actions may put you at risk. One common user risk is through downloading content from unknown sites OR from friends that don’t have up-to-date protections. The intent may not be at all malicious, but if content comes from an unprotected computer it may well be infected and by downloading the content you bring the malicious code past your security checkpoints. Interacting with others who have not protected their devices increases your risk.
Watch for symptoms like odd changes in settings, or your computer becoming really slow or crashing for no obvious reason. If these occur, take action. The cause may not be a bot, it could be another form of malicious software that causes the same symptoms, but they are clear indicators of trouble. If you experience these, check to be sure you have the latest operating system updates, and that your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are updating properly, then run a new scan of your computer. You may want to use a second spyware tool (many, like Ad-Aware offer free versions)
Don’t contribute to this problem. Ensure you have adequate protections today.
I recently asked “how can parents help protect their children from sexual predators online?”. The answer is, the same way you help keep them away from predators everywhere else. Protect children when young, arm them with the skills they need to value themselves, and help them feel empowered to say no. Give them the love and support they need, and pray that they will be among the majority of kids and teens that will go through childhood without being victims of sexual exploitation. Then, you give them all the support they need should they get hurt.
Contrary to sensationalized media coverage, we should be celebrating the marked decrease in sexual exploitation over the last decade. In fact, between 1993 and 2003, the rape/sexual assault victimization rate for youth ages 12–17 fell46 percent. (National Center for Juvenile Justice, 2006).
This decline stands in stark contrast to the extreme level of anxiety the media has generated amongst parents. Research by McAfee, (Oct 2008) that found “about two-thirds of mothers of teens in the United States are just as, or more, concerned about their teenagers’ online safety, such as from threatening e-mails or solicitation by online sexual predators, as they are about drunken driving (62 percent) and experimenting with drugs (65 percent).” There are certainly reasons for concern about online safety, but this level of angst is entirely unwarranted.
What we do know is that while the majority of teens (rarely young kids) will at some point receive sexual solicitations online, most simply delete the message with little more than a passing thought of ‘jerk’ – just like they do with unwanted sexual solicitations in the rest of their lives. Those most at risk are youth who are already emotionally and or physically vulnerable.
To decrease a child's risk of sexual exploitation in every environment, there are several steps parents and caregivers should take:
Give your child unconditional love and self-confidence so they don't feel a need to seek acceptance or validation from unhealthy sources.
Don't teach 'stranger danger'. No one has the right to touch them inappropriately. Let them know they have the right to set boundaries on physical contact with everyone. They must be able to say no to things that make them uncomfortable, and it must be respected. It may embarrass you when they don't want a hug from Auntie Sue, but making them give a hug when they don't want to teaches children that they don’t have the right to physical boundaries...and creates a climate of opportunity for sexual predators.
Foster a relationship of trust and communication so they feel safe coming to you with problems. Let them know you are always available to talk and that you will listen calmly and provide assistance – not punishment for bringing the problem to you.
Help them create a large circle of quality friends so they have a strong support network, and teach them to be good friends to others.
Be frank in discussions about their bodies, and as they get older discuss their sexuality and the sexuality of others. Avoiding these topics leaves a large gap in their defenses.
Coach your child in understanding how to read the motivations of others. It is a critical life skill to understand what is behind other people's actions. If the actions don’t feel right, encourage your child to go with their gut – no explanation needed.
Provide a safe environment with supervision and boundaries. Know where they are and whom they are with. Know who they communicate with in person and online – and do it without spying. Spying is a sure relationship destroyer.
Childhood is a journey to adulthood. Help kids and teens take on new privileges as they have the skills and understand the responsibilities to do so. Help them see the correlation between new privileges and the mastery of new skills and the acceptance of new responsibilities – online and offline. This teaches them to be in control of their own destiny and understand cause and effect.
Most sexual exploitation is by family members or other trusted adults. In these cases, the first person 'groomed' is usually the caregiver. Once an abuser has the caregiver’s trust, they have access to the child. It is imperative that you be very particular about who you trust and that you pay attention to anything that strikes you as out of the ordinary – trust your own gut. There are usually warning signs in these cases that the caregiver rationalized or chose to overlook.
Believe your child, or other children who turn to you for support.
Indifference and silence are child predator's greatest allies. Be prepared to act in defense of your child or other’s children. Do not sacrifice a child to 'save a marriage', 'a family' or 'a friendship'. By abusing a child, the abuser has already betrayed and killed those relationships. Whatever you imagine is still there is an illusion. If you suspect abuse, report it immediately.
Children often won't disclose abuse because they fear the consequence will be even worse that the exploitation. The first goal of a sexual predator is to abuse the child. Their second goal is often to make the child believe it was their own fault, feel responsible for what will happen to the abuser (particularly family members), or feel afraid that they will be hurt even more if they tell. Support the victim and repeat frequently that they are not responsible for the consequences of the abuser’s actions.
Some teens won’t even recognize they have been abused – they get so mentally groomed that it may take years before they understand that what they experienced wasn’t a ‘love relationship’. They may even fight against punishing their abuser. But it doesn’t change the reality of exploitation, it just means they need even more help to process what happened to them.
THE VICTIM IS NEVER AT FAULT. NEVER. We don’t blame five-year-old victims of sexual exploitation. We don’t blame fifty-five-year-old victims. Yet somehow as a society, we find it acceptable to be horribly cruel to teen victims. We say things like ‘What did they think would happen?’, ‘dressed like that/behaving like that/sneaking out like that… they got what they deserve’, or we accuse them with words like ‘how could you have..?’, ‘I told you not to..’, or ‘what was your part in this?’ What the victim hears in these comments is you siding with the predator by implying it was the victim’s fault. These comments, and the attitudes behind them, are inexcusable. Anyone making these comments is another abuser heaping additional harm on an already devastated child or teen.
The online world is not a mystery; it is just another facet of our lives. When children and teens learn the life-skills – including online-life-skills - they need, and receive the support they require, their risk of becoming a victim of sexual exploitation is minimized – online and offline.
New research confirms what many families already knew – cellphones help them stay closer.
While most news articles focus on the negative aspects of new technologies and Internet services, the benefits we reap as a society, as couples, as families, and as individuals, far outweigh the risks – when some basic safety precautions are in place.
According to a new report published by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (PEW), technology has become a central feature of families’ day-to-day lives. In spite of news stories frequent suggestions that technology is fraying family ties, the research found that cell phones and the internet help families stay in touch and coordinate schedules throughout the day – and that shared experiences an entertainment often occur online when family members are at home.
In fact, the research found that the majority of adults with cellphones and internet-connected lives feel that their families are as close, or closer, today than their families were when they grew up.
Increased connectedness is not limited to immediate family members, 33% of internet users feel they have improved their connections to friends “a lot” and that cellphones and the internet are particularly helpful with staying in touch with extended family.
Not surprising, younger users take greater advantage of the internet’s social opportunities: 49% of wired 18-29 year olds say the internet has improved their connections with friends.
For younger adults, the internet has not affected the amount of time spent with friends, family or socializing in person. Instead, making time for online activities has come at the expense of TV time – with a sharp 29% drop in TV viewing by the youngest adult segment.
Not all the news is as positive; the research also found that highly tech-connected families were less likely to eat dinner together and less satisfied with the quality of family and leisure time. Another downside is the blurring of traditional lines between time at work and time at home. Among employed internet users, 19% say the connectivity has increased the amount of time they spend working from home– suggesting that maintaining firm boundaries on tech-use for all members of the family is important to sustaining quality ‘family time’.
Feel like the internet is stealing your family time? Consider evaluating how much your cellphone, email, and Internet use may be preventing you from relaxing and focusing on quality family time, and perhaps how you can increase your family’s interactive play. Perhaps family online gaming replaces the traditional board games of yesteryear. If you can’t beat em’, join em’.
In recognition of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, LOOKBOTHWAYS and CyberPatrol have created four family-oriented Internet safety videos that give parents, educators and others, quick and accessible advice on how to protect children online.
ook at the clues: 
llustrating botnets are created: 
ew research confirms what many families already knew – cellphones help them stay closer. 
or younger adults, the internet has not affected the amount of time spent with friends, family or socializing in person. Instead, making time for online activities has come at the expense of TV time – with a sharp 29% drop in TV viewing by the youngest adult segment. 
