Tips to Help Defend Your Children

Online Safety and Behavior

1. Agree with your child on Internet rules, including how much time per day, what activities and sites are OK, and why.
2. Explain why your children should never share passwords, even with close friends.
3. Teach your child never to click on links or attachments sent by e-mail, unless they know the sender. Even in those cases, use caution.
4. Surf the Web together. Ask your child to tell you about the things they did online. Show genuine curiosity and make it fun. Have them show you their online profile, favorite chat rooms, and friends. Get involved – the best way to know what your child is doing online is openly talk about it.
5. Keep your PC in the living room or other common area and give your child a separate, non-administrative sign-on name. Use “Time Out” settings and audible sounds (available through most Parental Controls – URL – programs) that activate if a user attempts to access blocked pages too frequently.

Safety when Social Networking “(URL)”: Networks, Chats, Forums and Blogs

1. Picking a nickname: explain why it is better to pick an anonymous name, not including gender, real name, age, location or other personal information.
2. Teach your children never to give out their real name and last name, school or city to people they meet online. Give your child a special warning about online polls and surveys which prompt personal answers.
3. Giving out personal information includes updating status lines on social networks. Status lines can be a rich source of information to those who wish to harm you.
4. Uploading photos: anything uploaded to the Web can be downloaded as well. Teach your child to be careful when uploading personal photos, even if their blog or profile is private.

Cyberbullying “(URL)”

1. Watch for signs of cyberbullying, such as your child becoming agitated after using the PC and learn how to respond by saving chat logs and contacting the cyberbully’s Internet provider.
2. Beware of your child’s behavior not only as a victim but also as an offender. Teach him or her the importance of showing respect online. If they wouldn’t do it in public, they should not do it online.

Content and Content Filtering

1. Talk about all the content your child would find online - not all that is written is correct, credible, or true.
2. Learn the lingo - common chat acronyms include “PA” (Parent alert) “(URL)” and “PAW” (Parents are watching) “(URLs)”.
3. Know your child’s use of the Web and monitor it. Remember, your child can come across inappropriate material by accident.
4. Establish control by installing parental controls “(URL)” with Web filtering and optional time restrictions that you can adjust yourself.

Additional Safety Tips

Additional Internet Safety Tips

For Gamers

1. Don’t give out your name. Gamers can be lulled into a false sense of camaraderie with their online competitors, especially when they play together on a regular basis. Though it can be tempting, don't provide any personal information – even your first name – to gamers you don’t already know personally. Naturally, the same goes for other personally-identifying information such as email address or birthday.
2. Use anti-virus and anti-spyware. If a would-be gaming competitor gains information about your PC, IP address or connection location, they could then seek control of your PC by trying to install malware “(URL)”. One of the easiest ways to thwart malware is to use anti-virus and anti-spyware products that automatically update themselves 24/7. If the products require you to run the updates yourself, chances are your signatures will fall out-of-date and will fail to locate the newest threats.
   
   If a criminal-minded game pal gets your email address somehow, the anti-virus software will scan your incoming messages for troublesome files. The anti-spyware will look for programs that have been installed on your computer to track your online activities.
3. Use a personal firewall. Even if you don't provide clues about your identity to a gamer, they can still use various methods to send threats with information gleaned about your PC through an Internet connection. A personal firewall will help prevent the would-be game pal from sending information to or from your PC without your knowledge. This is especially important for gamers that use a broadband connection, because their computers are open to the Internet whenever they're turned on.
4. Be cautious about meeting cyber pals in person. Again, it's often tempting when you compete in a team or against each other online, but cyber-criminals have been known to game with targets to gain trust before making an attempt to steal game points or money, personal information or real money. If you decide to meet someone in person, do so during the day in a public place, and ask for information that you can verify, such as the person’s place of employment.
5. Don't trade online money or points for real money. This practice is a known catalyst for online scams. If you must use real money – to gamble or buy real estate in Second Life, for instance – the CA Security Advisor recommends using an online intermediary like PayPal to broker transactions.

If you start an email relationship with a fellow gamer, don't click on links or download attachments received in emails. They may contain viruses “(URL)” or spyware that could damage your computer or steal your personal information – including your online passwords and account numbers (which you shouldn’t be storing on your PC anyway). Some messages may “spoof” or copy the email addresses of friends to fool you into thinking that they’re from them. Don’t click on links or download attachments in emails from strangers and if you get an unexpected or suspicious message from someone whose address you do recognize, check with them directly before clicking on links or attachments.

Learn more about how to help keep your PC secure from online attacks.

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