Parenting can be trying. And the job has only got tougher, with the advent of the online world.
Leaving your children unguided in the virtual world can be as dangerous as in real life. When your child talks the language of the Internet, do not shrug it off as something that you do not understand. It is not Greek and Latin to equip yourself with a few skills that can make your child's other life in the virtual world safe.
Kaspersky, the Russian anti-virus solutions company, says cyber criminals are using all sorts of methods to entice children. From luring them into chats with malicious intent, to faking social networking sites, and to pushing malicious answers to top of search results — they are leaving no option unused. And duping children is made easy because they are curious about knowing things, cautions the latest Kaspersky report,
“Cybercriminals use Black Hat search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques to push unwanted or dangerous links to the top of search results.
More often than not, these links not only lead to web sites with questionable content and adult websites but can also be malicious and infect your computers,” it says.
Arm yourself first with understanding of crime in cyberspace, Kaspersky tells parents.
There is a first line of defence. One can use the SafeSearch option that search engine firms generally offer. “Enabling this option filters out web sites containing explicit images and content, from search results. One needs to look for such tools in ‘Options'.
One can also opt for language choice and set up ‘moderate' to ‘strict' filtering methods. Bing, the search engine from Microsoft, and Yahoo! too offer these services. Spam filters in mail services and reporting abuse in social networking sites too would be of help.
“You should never make your address, phone number or other contact information public. Do not send that information to a stranger by email, via a social network or by chat. Criminals can use contact information to track a person,” says the report.
Other e-commandments
Never agree to meet a stranger in person. Simply ignore these invitations, and cut off communication with anyone who insists on meeting.
Do not publish your email address on any forums, community web sites, or social networks. Spammers mine such resources for email addresses, and could potentially fill your inbox with unwanted mails.
Do not click on links in messages from strangers. It might be dangerous, since the message could have been sent by a cyber criminal.
You should not follow links with tempting offers such as increasing your account rating or gaining some kind of super-user options on social networks. More often than not, these messages are sent by spammers or cybercriminals in order to trick users into visiting a malicious website, which will then infect their computers with malware.
Do not pay attention to offers of free prizes, easy money or inheritances.