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Each day the threats become greater and greater.
Home computer users need to know the basics of internet safety and cybercrime prevention. Each day the threats become greater and greater. Computer safety expert and author Victoria Roddel has sent along five simple ways to protect yourself and your children from viruses, spyware, cybercrime and other threats. These and dozens of other good techniques are available in any one of Roddel's new books.
Disconnect: Don't leave the telecommunications cable (broadband modem, phone line) physically connected to your home computer when the internet is not in use. The only 100% safe computer is the one that is not connected to the internet.
Supervise: Protect, watch, and supervise your children online just as you do with all their everyday activities. Do not assume that your children are safe because they are in your home using a computer.
Recognize: Never open an attachment you don't recognize, or from an unfamiliar sender. Scan suspicious attachments with a trusted virus scanner before opening.
Insulate: Use firewalls, anti-virus, and spyware detection software on a regular basis. Be sure to download and install from the software manufacturer's website all available security patches and updates for all installed programs on your computer on a regular basis.
Guard: Protect your personal information and identity. Your life and the quality of your life depend on criminals not impersonating you to gain credit, money, a reputation, or committing a crime in your name.
The Internet Safety Family Guide is Roddel's latest book on protecting your family, and the Internet Safety Kids targets middle school students emphasizing fraud, lies, strangers, piracy, privacy, spam, computer infectors, computer security, passwords, self respect and respect for others. These long overdue guides provide straightforward education and advice on avoiding cyberstalking, fraud, hoaxes, identity theft, infectors, scams, spam, and spyware, while providing layman's information on home computer security, legislation, piracy, and most importantly, how to report cybercrime. A third version, specifically for grade school students, Internet Safety Young Readers' Guide emphasizes usernames, passwords, secrets, avoiding strangers and respect for self and others. Roddel comments:
"The most important thing for families to understand is that cybercrime is not different than any offline felony. True, the tools are newer and still unfamiliar to many people, but the classic criminals are still the same as the earliest days of civilization: the child predator, the robber, the scam artist, the stalker, the swindler, etc."
For a more complete review, see this one found at: www.computer-security-news.com
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