Internet Child Safety

[Sunite]

Internet Child Safety



As most people know the internet can be an amazing resource and provide hours of fun for kids, but there is a side to the internet that can be worrying for any parent.



Chat rooms have been a main cause of concern for years, with adults posing as young children and chatting to unsuspecting kids, and in extreme cases trying to organise secret meetings with the child. Things are changing slowly and a lot of chat rooms are starting to monitor their sites more closely, but unfortunately not everyone is following suit.



Websites with explicit images are another problem that children may be exposed to, a few of these websites have a warning on their homepage alerting the user to the fact that the site contains this sort of material, but unfortunately not all of them.



Another major worry for a parent is spam email containing explicit images, most of this type of spam gets sent from countries where any type of law is not easily enforced and therefore the culprits can go on sending, hopefully one day we will see the end of this type of marketing but unfortunately at the moment it is here to stay.



There are things that can be done to protect your children from this type of exposure on the internet, and below we will cover a few of these things.



<a name="child-security-chat"><font size="2">Child Security in Chat Rooms</font></a>



Chat rooms have long been a favourite pass-time on the internet for kids, they can be great fun and they can make some great new friends online, the problem with chat rooms is they are generally anonymous so the person they are chatting to may not be who they say they are.



Unless you supervise your children whenever they are in a chat room then controlling who they chat too can be a problem, although, there are some general guidelines that your children can follow to make their online chatting safer:
<ul>
<li>Stay anonymous, they should use a nickname while online, and never reveal their real name.
<li>Never tell anyone where they live, not even if they have been chatting to the person for years.
<li>Never tell anyone what school they go to.
<li>Never give out phone numbers.
<li>Never agree to meet someone without a parent present, and ensure the person they are going to meet knows a parent will be accompanying them.
<li>Tell an adult if anything strange happens or anything is said to them that makes them feel uncomfortable.
<li>Introduce yourself in the chat room to their online friends, especially if your child wants to meet them.
</ul>
Although these guidelines may seem fairly obvious, by ensuring that your children follow them they can help remove some of the dangers.



<a name="websites"><font size="2">Websites with unsuitable images</font></a>



This can be fairly simple to guard against, there is software available which can prevent your children from going to websites with this sort of content (see Net Nanny below). Also when they are searching the internet another measure is for them to use the safe search facility available on most good search engines.



<a name="spam-email"><font size="2">Spam email with explicit images</font></a>



Spam email is one of the most annoying problems on the internet and with no real solution in sight it will remain a problem for some time to come.



A lot of email providers offer spam protection, but unfortunately most are not 100% reliable, one of the best defences against this type of email is by using specialised software (see Spam Shield below) that restricts access to certain types of email, and by restricting any images that may be unsuitable for your child.



<a name="filters"><font size="2">Internet security and email filter software</font></a>



There are a few programs out there that can help keep the internet a safe, usable resource for your children, as with most types of filters some work and some don't.



Below are two different types of specialised software that we recommend (they actually do what they say they do) from well established internet security companies.

Net Nanny - Internet Filter - <font color="#a00000">$29.95</font>


This software gives peace of mind when your children are surfing the internet unsupervised, some of the features include:
<ul>
<li>Easy setup or customize options for up to 12 people per computer
<li>Filter content by keyword in IRC chat, on web pages, and in newsgroups
<li>Limit access to your PC by time of day and total amount of connect time
<li>Protect confidential information, block pop-up and pop-under advertisements
<li>Restrict access to online activities (chat, instant messengers, games, file sharing)
<li>Monitor Internet activity for an individual, a group, or all users
<li>It allows you to safeguard your privacy, stop pornography and other objectionable material
<li>Allows parents to determine the sensitivity of the filter, i.e. whether requested content should be allowed, warned, or blocked.
</ul>
To find out more about this software or to purchase <a href="You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login" target="_blank">Click here</a>.<img src="You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login" width="1" height="1" border="0">

IMsecure® Pro - Instant Messaging Security - <font color="#a00000">$19.95</font>


This software gives a secure environment for the most popular IM services, some of the features include:
<ul>
<li>Defends your computer and your files from hackers, thieves, vandals, and predators
<li>Works with whatever service and client you already use, even "universal" clients like Trillianâ,,¢
<li>Supports current and future IM clients, and continues to protect as IM technology grows
<li>Keeps your confidential, personal information private from ID thieves and Internet predators
<li>Protects your instant messages from being monitored. Secures IM communication even between different client programs, as long as they communicate over the same service
<li>Shields you from inappropriate content and wasted time
<li>Provides ultimate control over instant messaging in case of IM misuse or extreme IM security vulnerabilities
</ul>
To find out more about this software or to purchase <a href="You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login" target="_blank">Click here</a>.<img src="You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login" width="1" height="1" border="0">

Spam Shield - Email Filter - <font color="#a00000">$19.99 (usually $29.99)</font>


This software allows you to filter your incoming emails and help guard against spam, some of the features include:
<ul>
<li>Approval-based email management
<li>Easy installation â€" Installation wizards make setup and program management a snap
<li>Supports multiple POP accounts owned by a single user
<li>Permission management
<li>Easy setup â€" allows “approved” listing to be generated from Address Book of â€" Outlook Express and Outlook 98, 2000, 2002
<li>Safe previewing of messages without information being sent back to spammers
<li>Client based for complete privacy
<li>Checks Spam Block List
</ul>