When you know that your kid is online you must think on unique security risks such as privacy, web content filtering and protecting the data on your computer. Here are a few security tips:
What unique
risks are associated with children?
When a child is using
your computer, normal safeguards and security
practices may not be sufficient. Children present additional
challenges because of their natural characteristics: innocence,
curiosity, desire for independence, and fear of punishment. You need
to consider these characteristics when determining how to protect your
data and the child.
You may think that
because the child is only playing a game, or
researching a term paper, or typing a homework assignment, he or she
can't cause any harm. But what if, when saving her paper, the child
deletes a necessary program file? Or what if she unintentionally
visits a malicious web page that infects your computer with a virus?
These are just two possible scenarios. Mistakes happen, but the child
may not realize what she's done or may not tell you what happened
because she's afraid of getting punished.
Online predators
present another significant threat, particularly to
children. Because the nature of the internet is so anonymous, it is
easy for people to misrepresent themselves and manipulate or trick
other users (see Avoiding
Social
Engineering and Phishing Attacks for some examples). Adults
often
fall victim to these ploys, and children, who are usually much more
open and trusting, are even easier targets. The threat is even greater
if a child has access to email or instant messaging programs and/or
visits chat rooms (see Using
Instant
Messaging and Chat Rooms Safely for more
information).