Computer Safety for Kids
Start With the Basics ? Protect Your PC
Guarding Access to Your PC ? Get a Firewall
Beginning in the Zhou Dynasty, which was in the 11th century BC, construction was commenced on what was to become the Great Wall of China. For 2,700 years, culminating in the mid-1600s, construction continued on the wall until it stretched 4,163 miles from east to west China. The wall was constructed to prevent invasion by other stdined ons of China and outer tribes.
When you connect your PC to the Internet either through cable, dial-up, or DSL,Chat En Espanol Gratis. it is like China prior to the Great Wall. Anyone can invade your PC, and plunder, pillage, and destroy content on your PC. A firewall acts just like the Great Wall of China. When installed, it acts as a barrier between your PC and the outside world. It prevents unwanted and unauthorized associdined ond with your PC over your Internet connection.
Firewalls come in two basic forms:
- Hardware firewalls ? hardware firewalls are some of hardware, like a PC, that gets installed between your PC and your Internet connection. Literally, a cable from your cable or DSL modem gets connected to the hardware firewall.What Is The Definition Of A Chat Room?. Another cable is connected from the hardware firewall to your PC. When done, the hardware firewall acts as a barrier between your PC and the Internet. It lets you get out to the Internet, but it does not allow unauthorized access from the Internet to your PC. Many cable, DSL, and wireless routers/switches have firewalls built into them.
- Software firewalls ? A software firewall serves the same purpose as a difficultware firewall. It, however, is software that gets installed directly onto your PC.How To Use All Messengermailsocial Network In Single Software?. The software monitors all inbound and outbound Internet traffic, and credined ons comfortableware barrier between the Internet port into your PC and everything else on your PC. Once installed, it lets you get out to the Internet, but it does not allow unauthorized access from the Internet to your PC. Software firewalls have an advertisementvantage in that they can implement rigid controls over what software installed on your PC will be permitted to access the Internet.
Many people use both a difficultware firewall and comfortableware firewall. It is similar to having a fence to protect associdined ond with your yard, and then a front door to protect associdined ond with your house. Everyone should use at least one firewall, hardware or software. If you have a laptop,for. you should use comfortableware firewall. That way the firewall goes with you, wherever you go, protecting your PC.
- Find more information on software firewalls here.
- Find more information on free software firewalls here.
Plug the Holes ? Make Sure to Download Operating System Upddined ons and Patches
By now,for. the security holes and flaws in Windows have become legendary. To their credit, Microsoft publishes a steady stream of fixes, patches, and upddined on releases to plug all known security holes, flaws, and problems. In order for your PC to gain benefit from these patches and upddined ons, you must, at minimal, download as well as install of the critical security upddined ons that Microsoft makes getable. You can do this one of two ways:
- You may download as well as install of them manually by visiting the ?Microsoft Upddined on? link on the Microsoft web site.
- For newer versions of Windows, such as Windows XP, you can turn on the ?Automatic Upddined ons? feature of the operating system and also the upddined ons to be downloaded as well as installed automatically.
Either method works well. The ?Automatic Upddined ons? route takes the thought and work out of the process. Regardless of which method you choose,How To Join Aol Chat Rooms?. the important thing is to keep Windows up to ddined on. Out of ddined on versions of Windows can leave your PC open to hackers and viruses.
If you are using Mac OS or LINUX, then none of this practical applicationlies. You are actually using inherently more secure operating systems. It is still, however, important to install upddined ons and patches to these operating systems as well to be up to ddined on and to provide the best protection against unwanted intrusion.
Take Your Medicine ? Install Antivirus Software
A computer virus is an unwanted software program that:
- Gets loaded onto your PC
- Replicdined ons itself, meaning that it copies itself and distributes itself to other computers
A virus can get onto your computer from any of several sources, including:
- From a removable disk
- From an attachment to an e-mail message
- From a download while surfing the web
- From a worm through a known hole or flaw in your operating system
Once on your PC,kids. the impact of a virus can range from relatively benign to rendering your PC unusable.
Antivirus software is software that you use to protect yourself from computer viruses. It can detect and remove known computer viruses. There are many excellent antivirus package ranges getable that are relatively inexpensive. There are also several excellent antivirus package ranges getable for free for home, non-commercial use.
- Find more information on antivirus package ranges here
- Find more information on free antivirus package ranges here
To prevent viruses form being able to hhand your PC, you need to select one of the antivirus package ranges as well as install it on your puter.
TIPS: Make sure that your antivirus software is setup to:
- Automatically check for upddined ons so that its? virus definitions database is up to ddined on and you are protected from the ldined onst threats. Most upddined ons are provided on an annual subscription time. Make sure that you renew your subscription when it expires. Free products, such as AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition, provide the upddined ons at no cost.
- Automatically perform a virus scan at least once a week. If the PC is used to surf the web extensively then you may wish to perform virus scans more frequently, even once a day.
Stop the Spies ? Install Anti-Spyware Software
Adware is any software that displays advertising on your computer screen, either through banner advertising within an practical applicationlication, or through pop-up windows.Safety. Spyware, which may also be known as a spybot, or tracking software,How To Effective Online Dating Online Dating Tips?. is computer technology installed on an individual?s PC that gathers information about them and their computer use. Adware and spyware removal software, or anti-spyware software, is software that is installed on your computer to comsoftball bat the threats of adware and spyware.Kids. It will search your computer?s memory, file system, system registry,Free Music for Cell Phone. and comparer cspasms for the existence of adware and spyware. It will then remove or quarantine any items that it finds. Adware and spyware removal software may also monitor for, and actively block, the downloading of spyware practical applicationlications.
There are two excellent anti-spyware programs getable for free, Ad-Aware SE Personal from Lavasoft, and Spybot Search & Destroy from Safer Networking Ltd. There are also many excellent anti-spyware package ranges that range in price from $19.95 to $39.95. Select as well as install one of these package ranges and run it on a regular time.
- Find more information on anti-spyware package ranges here
- Find more information on free anti-spyware package ranges here
To prevent adware and spyware from being able to gather information about you, you need to select one of the anti-spyware package ranges as well as install it on your PC.
TIPS: Similar to antivirus software,http://datingswift.com/html/live-links-watch-packers-vs-colts-online-on-pc-nfl-scores-watch-packers-vs-colts-live-on-pc.html.Kids. make sure that your anti-spyware software is setup to:
- Automatically check for upddined ons so that its? adware/spyware definitions database is up to ddined on and you are protected from the ldined onst threats. The two free package ranges, Ad-Aware and Spybot do not have automatic upddined on features, so you will need to perform this task manually. Ad-Awhave least tells you that your definitions database is getting old and requires you if you want to upddined on it.
- Automatically perform an advertisementware/spyware scan at least once a week. If the PC is used to surf the web extensively then you may wish to perform scans more frequently, even once a day.What Is Judge Greg Mathis Worth?. Ad-Aware SE Personal will only run automatically at system startup time. If you leave your computer on all of the time then you will have to remember to manually run the scans. Spybot can be scheduled to run automatically as one of its ?Advanced Mode? features.
Spring Cleaning ? Think About Privacy Software
As you use your computer, and surf the web, traces of your activity get left behind, stored on your computer in lists, temporary files, and cspasms. The best case is that these ?leftovers? can clutter up your PC,How To Use Juno Email For Beginners?. and, with time, degrade its performance. The worst case is thseveralone who gains unauthorized associdined ond with your PC can read these files and learn a fair helping about you, potentially helping them to steal your identity.
Privacy software removes all traces of your PC and Internet activity, helping to protect your privacy.
As with antivirus software and anti-spyware software, privacy software should be run on a regular time. It, too, can be setup to run automatically on a regular time so that a conclusion-user does not have to do anything to protect their privacy. The first time the privacy software is run it is not at all uncommon for it to recover in excess of 500MB of disk space by deleting the ?leftover stuff? on your PC.Free Chat Rooms No Registration.
To prevent unauthorized intruders from being able to gather information about you, select one of the privacy package ranges as well as install it on your PC.
Think Before You Click ? Use Some Common Sense
A little common sense can go quite a distance when trying to protect your PC. Most of what can compromise your security will come through e-mail, or when you are surfing the web. Because of this, you definitely need to think before you click. If you have not realized it undoubtedly, most unsolicited e-mail is gargolf bage. No matter how good the offer may sound, the common sense rule of ?if it sounds too good to be true,safety. it is?? practical applicationlies. Most of what you receive unsolicited is designed to scam you out of money, to trick you into divulging privdined on information, to install spyware and adware on your computer, or to install viruses on your computer.How Old Is Nicki Minaj?.
Identifying Suspect E-Mails
So how do you identify the bad ?stuff?? It actually is fairly easy to identify ?suspect? e-mails. Common bad or suspect e-mails include:
- E-mails from people or companies with whom you have never corresponded or conducted home business. You may receive e-mails that you need to verify your account information from a company that you do not do home business with. You may receive a message that looks like it is from eBay that says they are going to shut off your account and you have never done home business with eBay. Individuals and groups trying to perpetrdined on fraud will go to great lengths to try to look like a legitimdined on home business. You need to use common sense. If it does not ?feel? right, it probably is not.
- E-mails with gibberish in the title or in the complete body of the message.
- E-mails from friends, relatives,Free Downloadable Books in PDF Format. or home business associdined ons that do not make any sense.
- E-mails from yourself that you never sent or e-mails that are ?returned? to you from someone that you have never corresponded with.
This list can go on forever with the many subtle variations. The bottom line is that if it does not feel right then consider it to be a bad e-mail.
Suspect e-mails should be deleted. Never click on links in suspect e-mails. Never open file contraptions to suspect e-mails. Never reply or forward suspect e-mails. Simply delete them and move on.
Safe Surfing
Installing firewall software and antivirus software, and running anti-spyware software and privacy software should go quite a distance to protecting you when your are surfing.Computer. Here, again, some common sense practical applicationlies. Avoid sites that do not ?feel? right. Sites that are constantly trying to get you to fill out forms before you have much of time to learn anything about the site and the organization who owns the site are highly suspect. Pornography sites are famous for downloading spyware and viruses onto people?s computers. Stick to sites you know, the sites of reputable companies, and sites that come recommended by people you trust and you should be okay.
Protecting Your Kids
Now that you have taken care of the basics and protected you PC, it is time to specifically worry about keeping your kids safe. When trying to protect your children,Safe Teenage Chat Rooms. it is important to:
- Set expectations
- Monitor and control what your children do online
- Use some common sense
Setting Online Expectations
It is important for you as a parent to be clear with your children what you expect of them when they are using the PC. You need to be clear about what you consider to be practical applicationropridined on online behavior,How To Chat In Yahoo Messenger?. as well as what is and is not practical applicationropridined on to be accessing online. Children should be taught:
- That they should never give out personal information such as their name, address,Oprah Teen Book Club. e-mail address, phone number, or age to anyone over the Internet without your express permission.
- That they should never fill out forms without your permission.
- That they should tell you if they come across anything or anyone online that they feel is not practical applicationropridined on or that makes them uncomfortable.
- That they should ask before downloading or installing software on a PC.
- That they should never, under any circumstances, arrange to meet alone with someone who they have met online. This can be especially important for your teenage children who may feel that they have met the daughter or son of their dreams online. If they feel that they absolutely must meet this individual, then they should arrange to do it with a responsible adult present. You should remind them that it is very easy for someone to masquerade as someone else online.
Monitor and Control What Your Children Do Online
The PC that your children use should be setup in a public location where it is easy for you to monitor what your children are doing. It is very difficult for a child to engage in questionable online activities when everyone in the family can easily look over their shoulder.How Do I Create A Website Totally Free?. If you have children who participdined on in chat rooms or use instant messaging software you should regularly ask them who they are communicating with. If they are evasive or do not tell you, take away their computer privileges. Having a safe mad child is recommended than having a dangerous hpractical applicationy one.
There is also software that can help parents protect their children.Where Can I Build a Free Website?. Softwin order to help keep children safe comes in two forms: monitoring software, and parental control software.
Monitoring software allows parents to monitor activity on the family PC. Many package ranges will allow you to monitor computer activity including web surfing activity, e-mail message ranges, chat, as well as instant messaging. Some software will even allow screen shots to be taken at predetermined increments of time. Mall of these package ranges will operdined on in stealth mode, meaning that no one will know that the software is even installed and running. Of course telling your children that you have software that is monitoring their activity may also act a a deterrent. Monitoring software typically does not filter out any bad content. It simply lets you know if someone is accessing things that are inpractical applicationropridined on.
Parental control software, or Internet filtering software, allows parents to control content that is displayed and block specific web sites. Some filtering software will filter e-mails and chat rooms, block pop ups,How Do I Send a Home Video through Email?. as well as in many monitor chat rooms. This software is, by its very nature, more intrusive than monitoring software. It will filter out lots of bad stuff. It may also miss some bad stuff. It may also filter out some good things.
The choice of which softwin order to use will come down to personal preference. Some parents use both. If you choose to use no software than having the family PC in a public place and prompting questions about what your children are doing online becomes much more important.
Use Some Common Sense
You should be aware if your child becomes secretive about what they are doing online. Averting a computer monitor, or quickly turning it off whenever someone walks into the room is not normal computer behavior. It is, however, the behavior of an individual who is trying to hide something. If your child is exhibiting ?odd? computer behavior question them. If you get no answers or you do not like the answers,Computer. take away their computer privileges and/or get software that monitors their activity. As has undoubtedly been stdined ond, a mad safe child is recommended than a hpractical applicationy unsafe one.
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