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  • Are your online pratices keeping you safe?

    A common theme of discussion around the social networks these days is the topic of safety. Some of the more common questions being asked include: “Is my account safe? Are my children safe? What about my house and property?” Well to answer a few of these in one simple word: NO! None of them are safe.

    Proven Fact: As far back as there have been records, there has been some form of child predation, sexual assault, and theft of one’s property by predators.

    Here’s the definition of Online Predator as outlined on Wikipedia:


    Quote Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_predator

    An online predator is an adult Internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.

    Online victimization of minors can include child grooming, requests to engage in sexual activities or discussions by an adult, unwanted exposure to sexual material (email with naked pictures, etc.), and online harassment, threats or other aggressive communications that are not sexual in nature but cause distress, fear or embarrassment.

    Chat rooms, instant messaging, Internet forums, social networking sites, and even video game consoles have all been accused of attracting online predators. A 2007 study, however, found no cases of minors being targeted by Internet predators on the basis of information they had posted on social networking sites.

    Software that attempts to monitor computer activity has seen some popularity with parents concerned about Internet predators. Many experts recommend talking to children and teens about online safety.

    There are many organizations that fight against online predators. During 2006 and 2007, the American news-magazine Dateline came out with To Catch a Predator. What began as a single episode turned into a long running and explosively popular continuation of the concept that lasted for several months, and prompted a national dialogue on internet safety for preteens and adolescents. With the participation of vigilantes by the name of PervertedJustice.org, would-be child abusers were lured to numerous residential homes throughout the US under the ruse of having sex with a young boy or girl.
    Some stats you might find interesting:

    Quote Originally Posted by http://www.sentrypc.com/statistics.htm
    • One in five U.S. teenagers who regularly log on to the Internet say they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Web. Solicitations were defined as requests to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk, or to give personal sexual information.
    • 25% of children have been exposed to unwanted pornographic material online.
    • Only 1/3 of households with Internet access are actively protecting their children with filtering or blocking software
    • 75% of children are willing to share personal information online about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and services.
    • Only approximately 25% of children who encountered a sexual approach or solicitation told a parent or adult.
    • One in 33 youth received an aggressive sexual solicitation in the past year. This means a predator asked a young person to meet somewhere, called a young person on the phone, and/or sent the young person correspondence, money, or gifts through the U.S. Postal Service.
    • 77% of the targets for online predators were age 14 or older. Another 22% were users ages 10 to 13.
    Quote Originally Posted by http://www.enough.org/inside.php?id=2uxkjwry8
    ONLINE SEXUAL PREDATORS
    • Currently, there are over 644,865 Registered Sex Offenders in the United States; an estimated 10,000 have been lost in the system (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2008).


    • The predominant sex crime scenario doesn't involve violence or stranger molesters posing online as children; only 5 percent of offenders concealed the fact they were adults from their victims. Almost 80 percent of offenders were explicit about their intentions with youth. In 73 percent of crimes, youth go to meet the offender on multiple occasions for multiple sexual encounters (NJOV Study, 2007).


    • Teens are willing to meet with strangers: 16 percent of teens considered meeting someone they've only talked to online and 8 percent have actually met someone they only knew online (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. 2006).


    • Four percent of all youth Internet users received aggressive sexual solicitations, which threatened to spill over into "real life". These solicitors asked to meet the youth in person, called them on the telephone, or sent offline mail, money, or gifts. Also 4 percent of youth Internet users had distressing sexual solicitations that left them feeling upset or extremely afraid (Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later, 2006).

    YOUTH, ONLINE PRIVACY & SOCIAL NETWORKING

    • Frequently children in 4th-6th grade levels engage in social networking activities. In the process they post personal, potentially exploitable, information about themselves online. Specifically, and within the last school year: 16% posted personal interests online, 15% posted information about their physical activities and 20% gave out their real name. In addition, 5% posted information about their school, 6% posted their home address, 6% posted their phone number and 9% posted pictures of themselves. (Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008)


    • A majority of teens (58 percent) don't think posting photos or other personal info on social networking sites is unsafe. (National teen Internet survey was funded by Cox Communications in partnership with NCMEC and John Walsh and was conducted in March 2007 among 1,070 teens age 13 to 17. The research was conducted online by TRU. http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/...ocs...sults_2007.ppt).


    • Teens readily post personal info online. 64 percent post photos or videos of themselves, while more than half (58 percent) post info about where they live. Females are far more likely than male teens to post personal photos or videos of themselves (70 percent vs. 58 percent). (National teen Internet survey was funded by Cox Communications in partnership with NCMEC and John Walsh and was conducted in March 2007 among 1,070 teens age 13 to 17. The research was conducted online by TRU. http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/...ocs...sults_2007.ppt).


    • Nearly one in 10 teens (8 percent ) has posted his or her cell phone number online. (National teen Internet survey was funded by Cox Communications in partnership with NCMEC and John Walsh and was conducted in March 2007 among 1,070 teens age 13 to 17. The research was conducted online by TRU. http://www.cox.com/TakeCharge/...ocs...sults_2007.ppt).


    • Teens who have online profiles are generally more likely to say it is okay to give out certain pieces of personal information in offline situations than they are to have that information actually posted to their profile. Teens with online profiles have a greater tendency to say it is fine to share where they go to school, their IM screen name, email address, last name and cell phone number with someone they met at a party, when compared with the percentage who actually post that information online. The only piece of information they are more likely to share online rather than in person with a new acquaintance is the city and state where they live. (Lenhart, Amanda and Madden, Mary. Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks. Pew Internet and American Life Project, April 18, 2007 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdf...riv...port_Final.pdf).


    • Some 23 percent of teen profile creators say it would be "pretty easy" for someone to find out who they are from the information posted to their profile, and 40 percent of teens with profiles online think that it would be hard for someone to find out who they are from their profile, but that they could eventually be found online. Another 36 percent say they think it would be "very difficult" for someone to identify them from their online profile. (Lenhart, Amanda and Madden, Mary. Teens, Privacy, and Online Social Networks. Pew Internet and American Life Project, April 18, 2007 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdf...riv...port_Final.pdf).
    Do I have your attention now? I have seen some things that would curl your toes, i.e. people who just do not use common sense when in any type of Social Network, whether it be web-based or in a gaming environment, etc.

    Anyone who thinks these cannot happen because of the anonymity of the internet is sadly mistaken. It is much easier these days with the invention of the internet to do much more than simply rob your home.

    Are you paranoid yet? Well good. Everyone should have a healthy amount of it to make sure they’re aware of the things they do online, including the information they share and the links they visit.

    Now with the Smart Phone out there tagging pictures you take and including such information as the location the picture was taken, things just got a little more unsafe. The fact that people are able to map out your routines based on these pictures being posted on social networks, just makes things a little scarier.

    Here are some easy-to-follow steps you can take to add a little more security to your life (and to your peace of mind). Keep in mind these methods are not guaranteed to make you 100% safe, but will help increase the odds in your favor.


    Rules to follow on Social Networks

    1. Never post your full address or any details of that nature for the public to see.
    2. Never post in your comments that you have to leave your place or that you’re going on vacation, with the dates/times that you’re leaving and returning. It only tells the thieves how much time they have to work with.
    3. When posting pictures, more so of your children with the new technologies (i.e. Smart Phone recording the exact location the picture was taken), you might want to consider doing a few things. First off, this is not proven but it might throw some of the location-recording programs off a little, is to paste a copy of the picture into a photo editing software and save it as a new image. Maybe you found a nice border you want to put around it. As I said, it’s not foolproof, but it may deter some of these predator-type hackers. As well, NEVER tag the picture with the full name of your child. I would suggest that you tag it with your name instead. When posting pictures use some common sense and understand that there are some sickos out there.

    Here’s a YouTube video of a news report in regards to the Smart Phone and it’s affect on the social networks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vAR...&feature=share
    4. Never keep too much private information on your PC. If you have a USB drive, save it to that and clean your computer system after every use.
    5. If at all possible, try to avoid logging on to any social network from public locations such as internet cafés, airports, hotels, etc.
    6. If you have to use someone else’s computer to log in, make sure they have adequate security, i.e. up-to-date antivirus software, some form of system cleaner (like CCleaner), things like that.

    Allowing your kids on the computer and internet

    This is a big one.

    Always have the line of communication open with your children. You have to guide them along this road full of people that may want to hurt them and fill their young minds full of garbage or otherwise introduce them to a world they might not be ready for.

    1. Education. You need to take the time to make sure your children are aware of the dangers of the internet - which means you need to be aware as well.
    2. Know who your kids are talking to, even if you need to sit with them and watch.
    3. Age restrictions on such places like social networks are in place for a reason. Abide by them.
    4. Don't allow your child/ren to share ANY personal information such as the school they go to, where they live, personal phone numbers, etc. Sharing something as simple as the school mascot can give a predator enough information to piece together a picture of where your child lives and/or goes to school.
    5. Have some common sense. Would you give your child to a complete stranger to baby sit? Well, look at it this way: if you give your children free reign of the computer that is exactly what you have done.