INTERNET SAFETY

Listcrime is a one-stop-shop for reliable, up-to-date information about cyber crime, we at Listcrime.com want to give home users and small businesses the advice they need to use the Internet safely. For the most part, references within this web page appear as links to the actual site that the information came from. I revert to customary referencing when citing non-WWW based sources. A bibliography of any sources not linked will appears at the end of this web page.

 

CAN YOU MONITOR WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING OVER THE INTERNET?

Most of us don't have a clue what our kids are up to when there are multiple windows open on the computer screen or their hands are typing in a small cell phone keyboard at hyper speed. How many times do you catch yourself fretting about what your teenage daughter or son is seeing or doing on the Internet?

America’s cyberspace links the United States to the rest of the world. A network of networks spans the planet, allowing malicious actors on one continent to act on systems thousands of miles away. Cyber attacks cross borders at light speed, and discerning the source of malicious activity is difficult. There's no doubt that the Internet is a fantastic source of information, but no one can deny that there are risks involved too. While the Internet can be a fun and great learning and recreational resource for children, it is very important that they are educated about how to surf the internet safely and responsibly.

This means that as well as the wealth of useful information and entertainment, there is a proliferation of material on the Internet that is deemed 'unsuitable'. The common perception is that the problem is restricted to material of a sexual nature that could be seen by children. In fact the problem extends to a wider variety of material that is often considered unsuitable or unwanted by all members of society.

For parents who have grown up with the television, the Internet generation is surely more computer savvy and knows more about the latest technology than most parents. Just as in the real world, parents need to supervise what their kids are doing in the virtual world also, how are they spending their time, whom are they chatting with and what kind of information they are accessing or sharing with other people.

ARE THERE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO WATCH WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING?

Short answer YES, Long answer But they can't catch everything

Monitoring and Tracking:

Some software allows parents to track where their children go online, how much time they spend online, how much time they spend on the computer (offline, such as playing games) and even allows parents to control what times of day their children can use the computer. Monitoring products are designed to help you keep an eye on what your computer is being used for, even when you can't be there in person. With a monitoring or tracking product installed on your system, you can review the web sites your children have visited and your children's instant messaging sessions.

What is the difference between filtering, tracking and blocking software?

"Filters" are software tools designed to filter out unwanted web pages or other internet related material so they do not appear on the screen.

Tracking software is Web monitoring software that records browsing activity by either taking snapshots of the user's browser, by actively recording the entire browsing activity, or by creating a record of URL's with access times and dates. Some use key loggers (capturing programs) to capture passwords and anything else someone would type while using a computer.

The "blocker" is a software tool that completely lock-out certain activities such as chat. These products can be bought over the counter, downloaded over the Internet from software providers or may be provided by your Internet service provider (ISP). A majority of commercial software products do both, as well as track where their children go online.

Blocking Software:

Blocking software is software that uses a "bad site" list. It blocks access to sites on the list. Some of the software companies allow you to customize the list, by adding or removing sites from that list. Other software companies try to keep the sites on their list secret, and don't permit parents to add or remove sites from the list.

Blocked site lists need to be updated regularly. Some software companies allow you to download updated sites daily. Others may charge for updates after a certain period, and may update their lists less frequently.

No matter how frequently they are updated, however, the number of web sites published each day far exceeds the ability of the software companies to review the sites, and categorize them for "bad site" or "black list" lists.

All the major ISP's provide some form of "blacklist"site protection. ISP Blacklist blocks of specific IP addresses (and IP ranges), message senders from known e-mail servers and addresses. This is done mainly to block spam.

FILTERING:

There are many different types of filtering products. To begin with, some products are installed on your own computer at home (client-side), while others are installed on the larger computers at your Internet service provider (server-side).

Most Internet Server providers use server side filters daily to block out spam and other innocuous material. There are also plenty of companies that use server side and client side software and hardware to assist you in filtering material. There are various technologies on the market today for filtering Internet content. There are three main types of Internet filtering technologies that are available in most filtering products today.

KEYWORD ANALYSIS

Keyword analysis refers to the ability to programmatically watch for the occurrence of certain words and block access to sites that contain those words. Keyword analysis was one of the first attempts at web site categorization and is still frequently requested by users due to the fact that there are certain words that people feel are inappropriate and should never be seen, regardless of the context.  The biggest problem with using keyword filtering is that innocent sites may be blocked. In addition, some web site operators have learned to get around the filtering by misspelling the typical keywords.

URL ANALYSIS

URL analysis is the process of interrogating the URL address that identifies a web site and categorizing the content based on a prior human review of the content hosted on that URL. Limits access to a specific list of web sites that have been classified as "inappropriate." Some companies decide what URL's are filtered, some let parents pick among pre-set categories, some provide a "starter list" where a parent can add or remove sites. This is typically done by referencing a large database of pre-categorized URL's. 

CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

Contextual analysis is the ability to interrogate the content and determine on-the-fly what that content is intended to convey. This technology uses sophisticated linguistic algorithms that make associations between the words embedded in the content to arrive at an understanding of what is being communicated. This information is then used to categorize the content as a whole.

As with the "bad site" lists, the lists of keywords used by the filtering software should be customizable by the parent, and every parents should be able to see which terms are filtered.

Outgoing Filtering:

Block your child from sending certain information out on your computer. Information such as home Name, Home address, social Security number, or telephone number. This information can be programmed into the software so that it shows up as "XXX."

COMPARING THE PRODUCTS

CLICK HERE: GETNETWISE.ORG RECOMMENDATIONS

Here's some information on some of the most popular commercial products that have been tested by the market. If you want to reach the web sites of each of the software companies, just click on their name:

Net Nanny allow parents to customize its "bad site" list, by adding or removing sites. It's the only one that let's you see what's on the list...the other companies keep their lists "secret." It blocks outgoing information and tracks where a child has been. It has free daily updates. It also can limit the amount of time a child spends online and using the computer.

Cyber Patrol has some wonderful features, but only uses a blocked site list, not a filtering on the fly technology. You can have up to 9 different user settings, which allows you to use a different setting for each child. It doesn't filter or track where your child has been, but it can control offline, as well as online, activities. Cyber Patrol updates its lists daily, and comes with a three-year subscription of free updates.

CYBER Sitter allows parents to customize their keyword and site lists. It doesn't warn a child when it blocks a site, though, something that I wish it did. It allows parents to monitor their child's online surfing by giving parents a tracking report and blocks outgoing information. It has free daily updates, too. It also can limit the amount of time a child spends online and using the computer.

Net bus .org Spector Pro claims to be the world's best selling internet monitoring software for monitoring kids. Every detail of PC and Internet activity - ideal to monitor kids in, chat, and internet use. Selected as the Editors' Choice by the experts at PC Magazine, Spector Pro will monitor your kids: My Space, Online Searches, chats, instant messages, emails sent and received, web sites visited, keystrokes typed, programs launched and Myspace.com activity.

Surf Watch is the only product that doesn't block outgoing information. It's easy to install and setup. It also has a very large good and bad site list inventory. It can block access to chat rooms, entirely, and allows parents to customize the site lists. It has free daily site updates for six months. After that you have to buy a subscription.

iWebTrack is a hosted web tracking company that, instead of selling web tracking software, provides a web tracking service.  You sign up for an iWebTrack account and they track your web site traffic for you.  They provide you with detailed web tracking stat reports which you can use to optimize your web pages.

 

 

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

The Texas ISP Association has a page of information on blocking and filtering for parents.
Virginia State Police, Internet safety for kids.
Kinder Shield Labs, LLC has KinderMail, a Windows POP3 client designed to allow parents to control who can e-mail their children.
Howstuff works: Great teaching web site.
wiredkids.org Great teaching site for parents
ikeepsafe.org Social networking video

CONTACT US       ABOUT US     DISCLAIMER

COPYRIGHT ©LISTCRIME 2008 ALL RIGHTS ®RESERVED