ALKHOBAR: Summer weather has the Kingdom in its grip. With the terrible heat outdoors, kids are turning to online activities for amusement. There's a lot of fun to be had online but danger is lurking there too. Parents and children need to know how to stay safe in the virtual world. Comcast and McAfee have created the Cyber Summer Safety Challenge to get parents, teens and kids to start a dialog about Internet safety, social networking, online threats and what they can do to protect themselves and their computers. The Challenge is available in two versions — one for kids and one for teens — and can be downloaded from www.comcast.net/security. The Cyber Summer Safety Challenge covers age appropriate content that ranges from the basics of using the Internet to the sophistication of posting information on social networking sites.
According to a 2009 McAfee/Harris Interactive survey, 52 percent of teens have admitted to giving out personal information to someone online they did not know and 16 percent of kids and teens admit they have private e-mail addresses or social networking profiles to hide online activities from their parents.
“The first thing parents and their children can do to increase their chances of being safe online is to have open communication with one another about the use of the Internet and social networking sites,” said Tracy Mooney, McAfee's Chief Cyber Security Mom.
When talking to young people about Internet safety and social networks, offer them the following tips:
• Keep your personal information private.
• Don't interact with strangers online and use privacy settings.
• What goes online, stays online and may impact real world situations. So choose pictures and comments wisely.
• Treat other people how you would like to be treated online. If you are being bullied, tell an adult.
• Be sure you have up-to-date Internet security software on your computer.
• The Internet is great, but also spend quality face-to-face time with family and friends.
Another good resource for parents to help keep their families' safe online comes from CyberPatrol LLC. The company has released “Surfing Among the Cyber Sharks,” a guidebook on Internet safety for parents, written by information security veterans. The book uses real life examples, illustrations, and statistics that show the risks and consequences for kids posed by their online activity. Download it free from http://www.cyberpatrol.com/bookdownload.asp.
The book compares online threats with sharks, ever present in what appears to be safe waters. “The shark analogy is perfect because parents immediately get it,” said Bob Kessinger, one of the book’s authors. “Like sharks in the water the apparent safety of the Internet is full of Cyber Sharks, and if kids aren't careful they can easily become victims.”
Most parents believe they have good kids that stay out of the bad places on the Internet. While that may be true, kids don't have to go looking for trouble online. The Cyber Sharks will come to them. “Unless parents know what to look for and do, their kids are at risk, and left on their own to defend themselves,” added Kessinger.
The book also addresses the difference between being cyber savvy and cyber smart, and why parents should and can play a vital role in making sure their kids safely navigate the Web.
“Even though there's plenty of cyber safety material out there, parents continually ask us about the Internet, their kids, and what can be done to protect them,” said Vince Schiavone, another of the book’s authors. “We decided to write a book that clearly and simply explains and illustrates the dangers and the steps parents can take to assure online safety.”
Surfing Among the Cyber Sharks features Jason, a 15-year-old boy who shares his real life online experiences with readers. He talks about his online life from early days of cyber bullying to a near miss with a Craigslist advertiser. Jason offers a candid insight to the cyber world from a kid’s viewpoint, one not often shared with parents.
“Parents need to know about the risks their children are facing online, everyday. Not to scare them, but to prepare them to educate and take basic steps to protect their children, and themselves. In the book we identify and categorize for parents the full range of Cyber Sharks that exist online. Prevention is always better than a cure, and sometimes regrettably when it comes to predators online, there is no cure,” Schiavone remarked. “We identify three types of Cyber Sharks; Attracter Sharks, Attacker Sharks and Enabler Sharks. All can lead to serious harm. And apart from these dangers, we also talk about good kids who do stupid things such as the recent spate of sexting, and the potential for long-term consequences when these incidents happen.”
In addition to bringing parents up to speed on the risks posed by the Internet, the book also outlines both steps to take and technology to use to provide a safer online environment, and what to do and who to contact in the event a child or teen encounters a problem.
As Internet threats grow and even younger children want to explore the virtual world, parents need stronger tools to help them keep their kids safe. With that in mind, Disney Consumer Products (DCP) and ASUS have collaborated to develop the Disney Netpal, a netbook computer for children ages 6-12, that's fun, Web-safe and easy to use. Developed with parents and kids in mind, the Disney Netpal by ASUS is durable, with a reinforced mechanical design, and offers a truly engaging computing experience with a unique Disney user interface.
Features include more than 40 robust parental control options, an 8.9-inch LCD display, Wi-Fi capabilities, Windows XP Home, and kid-friendly software featuring Disney characters and icons in attractive visual environments. Browsers and e-mail have extra filters to assure that parents are able to control online safety and content for their children, and can select with whom their children can correspond via e-mail. The Disney Magic Desktop “gadget tray” offers a creatively designed 2D menu displaying Disney-themed e-mail, a Disney-themed browser and a robust suite of Disney-themed parental control options.
The user interface is simple to use for both kids and parents, with the Disney Netpal going from package to setup in just four steps. The Netpal by ASUS is designed to be rugged and durable, with a sealed keyboard that protects against inadvertent liquid spills. There’s also ASUS’ ShockShield data protection to guard against data loss when the computer is subject to impact. The Disney Netpal will be available in late July in two models, priced starting at $349.99.