Privacy, Security & Virus Information

Spam: Definitely Not Child's Play

If you have kids in their early teens, and they are regular users of the Internet, there are three undeniable facts that are apparent.

Firstly, many early teens can't think of a world without the guidance of the Internet. Many teens virtually live online. Every child can look up anything at anytime. Secondly, many kids in their early teens are more tech-savvy and net-savvy than you are. You might even have turned to them on occasion for help with the computer, and you're definitely not alone. Thirdly, their level of technical sophistication is not matched by their level of emotional sophistication. There may be many kids out there who can handle a PC but aren't old enough to deal with the online threats that accompany surfing the Internet. As a result, your computer may need help.

May teenagers use the computer for online chatting and e-mail. As a result, they are prone to becoming victims of online identity theft and hacking programs. Teenagers are the ones - according to research - that are most susceptible to online threats. Research indicates that most of them generally don't ask for parental permission before posting their email address and other personal information online. Most teenagers have never had their parents sit down with them and discuss the online security threats that can accompany any personal computer.

During governmental hearing on the subject of unsolicited email, Senator Charles Schumer of New York informed the public that his family had become the victims of online threats through e-mail spamming. In this case, as he found to his consternation, there's absolutely nothing he can do. There wasn't a single law prohibiting spammers from sending out vast quantities of porn spam. Much of this spam goes out to an unintended audience: children.

Spam contains many more threats other than the harmful dangers of e-mail spam porn. There are several online offers, for example, of "free" products that sound to god to be true. Many of these free offers state that you can receive a "free" DVD player if you simply fill out an online form containing your personal information. What teenager can't resist? Herein lies the problem.

"Speaking for myself, I can't just look at all this as a technology problem-I'm a parent too, and the idea of my kids, or any of their friends, receiving this stuff is absolutely disgusting to me," said Bari Abdul, Vice President of World Wide Consumer Marketing, with computer security company McAfee®. Abdul further explains that every family should treat their home computer they way they protect security in their own home - by making sure all threats are eliminated using good security.

So What's To Be Done?

It is very difficult to change the habits of children when surfing the Internet. Instant messaging isn't going away - and as a result, it is important to educate and protect your child from the dangers of the Internet.

So do as you would with any other potentially dangerous situation. Educate yourself about spam and then talk to your kids about it. And use technology to keep your PC safe:

McAfee Internet Security Suite offers a set of must-have security protections for families. The services available in this software is above all others: real-time external security alert system, personal identity protection software, and virus protection against all online threats. This program warns you about your PC's security vulnerability as well as parental controls that provide child-specific settings for web pages, chat filtering, objectionable word filtering, online time limits, and more.

Every McAfee Parental Controls are designed for each family - you can customize based on what your family needs to be able to use. This way your can protect your family from seeing any inappropriate content. McAfee Parental Controls provides the protection that you need while still allowing your child to use the Internet safely.

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