Cyber Safety
Cyber Safety and Identity Protection are hot topics lately. So hot, that our local newspaper recently ran at least three articles on the subjects, in one issue! People have several concerns in these areas, and we will try to touch on them briefly.
One concern is protecting your privacy. Do not allow your personal and financial information to get into the wrong hands. Another concern is computer safety; that is, not allowing worms, viruses, ad ware, and spy ware to be downloaded onto your computer. A third concern is child safety. We do not want our children, while using a computer, to be subject to inappropriate messages and images. Actually, we ourselves do not want to be subject to offensive material!
There are several strategies to deal with the above concerns. One solution would be to never go on the internet. Most of the above problems do not stem from our computers, but from utilizing the internet. This solution is most likely not a viable one. There are some more realistic steps you may take to protect yourself and your family.
To protect your privacy, you will want to minimize using your credit card on the internet. If you do use your credit card for online transactions, be sure that the website address begins with https, which indicates a secure connection. Avoid storing personal information, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, and dates of birth on your computer. Write this information down, and file it.
Regarding computer security, there are several rules to follow. Do not open emails from unknown senders, especially if those emails include attachments. When surfing the net, only visit sites with which you are familiar. Do not download software from the internet, buy the CD when possible. Install anti-virus software. There are several anti-virus programs available, and in general the more expensive programs are more effective. You may also want to adjust your web browser to block scripts, cookies and pop-ups.
With respect to child safety, the key rule is not to let your children on the computer unsupervised. The internet is not set up so that you can effectively block inappropriate material. Search engines do have settings to try to alleviate the problem, but some common words can generate non-family friendly sites. There was an attempt to rate websites (similar to movie ratings), but this movement did not catch on. Some search engines are reputed to be safer for children, such as Ask Jeeves Jr and Yahooligans, but it remains to be seen if these engines live up to expectations.