Every year, millions of people access the internet. This number continues to increase as people continue to purchase computers, and as more and more information becomes available on the web. The web is an easy resource for any piece of information; and it's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and right from your home.

As convenient as it is to be able to research any information desired, there are some drawbacks. One of these drawbacks is that it is just as easy for a predator to get on-line and look for a new victim as it is for you to get on-line and for a recipe for chocolate cake. The on-line predator is looking to take advantage of you, the unsuspecting internet user. He engages in activities ranging from installing harmful programs on your computer to perpetrating financial scams; from enticing children to perform elicit sexual acts to organizing terrorist activities. And since you never really know who it is hiding behind that e-mail address or on-line name, you never know if it is someone you can trust.

Unfortunately, the world wide web is too vast of an environment to monitor in its entirety. While law enforcement actively looks for on-line criminals, and prosecutes those found, many more are lost in the vastness of the cyberspace. However, there are some simple steps you can follow to protect yourself and make your on-line experience a pleasurable one:

General:

• Never give any of your passwords to anyone. Make sure each one is unique, using a combination of numbers, symbols, and both upper and lower case letters. Do not write your passwords down, but make them familiar enough for you to memorize easily.
• Keep your operating system up to date with security updates and patches from the manufacturer.
• Install a good anti-virus program and keep it up-to-date. There are many commercial brands available.
• If you have a broadband connection make sure that you have a firewall installed. Again, there are many commercial brands available.
• If you need to transmit sensitive information over the internet (i.e. - birth dates, social security numbers, credit card numbers, etc.) be sure to look for two indicators that you are on a secure web page. First, in the address bar, look for “https://” to be at the very beginning. Second, in the lower-right corner of your browser window, look for a closed lock. If both of these indicators are not present, the site is not secure.

E-mail:

• Never transmit you birth date, social security number, account numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information via e-mail. E-mail is not a secure transmission. If you get an e-mail requesting this information from a company, call the company by looking up their phone number in the phone book and inquire why they need this information.
• Never open an e-mail from someone you do not know, just delete it.
• Be on the lookout for scams - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• If you get a notification of a possible virus or other harmful program, do not blindly follow the instructions given, do some research about the notification.
• Do not download files or install/run programs from an unknown source. Keep in mind that a friend can unknowingly send a virus or other harmful program to you.
• Unfortunately, spam is not illegal, and there is no way to eliminate it, but there are ways to help prevent it.
  • One of the things you can do is to have two separate e-mail accounts: one that that you give to your friends and/or co-workers and one that you give out publicly.
  • Another possibility is to create a list of people authorized to send you e-mail. Many e-mail programs contain a filtering feature which allows you to limit the addresses or domains that are authorized to send you e-mail.
  • Also, each time that your e-mail is forwarded in a large group (i.e. - carbon copy), you increase the chances of that list going to someone who will sell it to a spammer.

Wireless Networks:

• If you are going to buy a wireless router, make sure that it comes with WEP or WPA security encryption. Make sure that you enable such encryption! Do not, however, believe that this encryption totally protects your network.
• Most wireless routers are set at with a default Service Set Identifier (SSID). Most people never change this; make sure you do.
• Your router will also be set to broadcast the SSID, even if you change it. It is basically broadcasting a signal "HEY! HERE I AM; A WIRELESS NETWORK! COME JOIN ME!" There are people out there who drive around looking for these broadcasts so they can get on-line without having to pay for internet service. Although most people who do this are not out to harm your computer, there are exceptions.
• Enable MAC filtering. Every computer using an ethernet port has a Media Access Control (MAC) address. The MAC address is used when you request information from the internet. It allows other computers to know where to send requested information. When you enable MAC filtering on a wireless router, you are telling the network to only communicate with computers that have the MAC addresses that you entered.

There are additional steps that you should take when allowing your children to access the internet:

• Place the computer in a common room such as the living room or kitchen with the monitor facing a direction where you can easily view what is on the screen.
• Install website monitoring and filtering programs. Also use a keystroke monitoring program. You will then be able to go back later to view a record of what you child said and did.
• Set up rules for computer use and what websites your child may and may not visit.
• Do not use the computer or internet as an electronic babysitter.
• Never allow your child to access the internet while unsupervised.
• Advise your child to never give out any personal identifying information over the web.
• Children should not be in chat rooms unless closely supervised. Chat rooms are dangerous because you never really know who it is your child is talking to.
• Get to know you child’s on-line friends.
• If your child wants to physically meet an on-line friend for the first time, make sure it is in a public place and that you accompany them. You should also contact the parents of the other child and discuss the meeting with them.
• Do not allow your child to make purchases on-line; you should make them.
• Have a blind copy of all of your child’s inbound and outbound e-mail sent to your e-mail address so that you may monitor it.
• If your child comes to you with a problem he/she is having from an on-line experience, do not blame your child. Help him/her to resolve the problem and avoid it again in the future.
• Remember, the world wide web is filled with all kinds of information, some of which is inappropriate for children.